Tezpur: Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh’s claim in the Lok Sabha that Assam boasts the highest forest cover in India has been challenged by official data revealing a starkly different reality.
While Assam does have significant forest cover, it also leads the nation in forest land encroachment and has experienced alarming deforestation rates.
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The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 shows Assam with 19,699.73 square kilometers of forest cover. However, the state lost 86.66 square kilometers of forest between 2021 and 2023 alone.
More significantly, the ISFR reveals that a staggering 213,253.91 hectares of Assam’s forest land have been encroached upon – the highest in India. This is followed by Maharashtra (57,554.87 hectares) and Arunachal Pradesh (53,499.96 hectares), while Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported zero encroachment.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo-moto cognizance of the crisis, issuing notices to both the state and central governments.
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A bench headed by Justice Prakash Srivastava and expert member Afroz Ahmed stated that Assam has violated forest conservation and environmental protection laws, exacerbating climate change impacts across the Northeast.
RTI activist Dilip Nath criticized the Assam government’s handling of the crisis. He pointed out that despite receiving Rs 556 crore from the Centre for afforestation and deploying two new forest battalions, the government has failed to curb deforestation.
“At a time when central agencies are reporting the highest deforestation in Assam, the state government is granting bhumi patta (land deeds) to encroachers,” Nath said.
“This is shameful, and the government must take note and curb deforestation,” he added.
The deforestation has had a devastating impact on Assam’s wildlife, driving elephants into human settlements in search of food.
Official reports document 383 human deaths and 91 elephant fatalities due to human-elephant conflict between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Nath highlighted Sonitpur district as a hotspot for such conflicts.
The escalating encroachment has prompted protests. Regional political and social organizations, including APHLC, ASDC, KSA, KNCA, ASDCYF, and KARAA, recently demonstrated at the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) office in Diphu.
They demanded immediate action against illegal settlers and stricter land laws to protect indigenous communities, warning that unchecked encroachment threatens Karbi Anglong’s cultural and territorial integrity.