Guwahati: Meghalaya’s forest cover declined by 325 square kilometres between 2009 and 2023, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told the state Assembly on Wednesday.
Sangma was responding to a question from MLA Mehtab Chande A Sangma during the ongoing Autumn Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
The Chief Minister said the decline was recorded in successive India State of Forest Report assessments.
He said the state government was undertaking plantation programmes across Meghalaya through the State Plan and centrally sponsored schemes, including CAMPA, the Meghalaya Environmental Protection and Restoration Fund and the Meghalaya Mining and Mineral Restoration Fund.
For 2026-27, the government has proposed afforestation across 3,065.09 hectares at an estimated cost of about Rs 8.66 crore.
Another 20 km of avenue plantation has been proposed at an estimated cost of Rs 1.09 crore.