NEW DELHI, February 6: The biggest landlord in the country, the forest department, has lost nearly 5,500 sq km of forest cover since the 1995 assessment, according to the 1997 assessment by the Forest Survey of India (FSI). The dense forests -- the real forests with a crown density of over 40 per cent -- have decreased by nearly 18,000 sq km.While Madhya Pradesh has lost nearly 4,000 sq km of forest cover, Andhra Pradesh is not far behind at 3,822 sq km. Surprisingly, Maharashtra has shown a significant increase of around 2,300 sq km with even Gujarat recording an addition of 258 sq to its green cover.
Releasing the FSI report, environment minister Saifuddin Soz said he was perturbed about the dwindling forest cover. The Union ministry has taken up the matter of the states to ascertain the causes for depletion. This is the sixth assessment of the status of Indian forests based on visual and digital interpretation of satellite data.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
