Andhra’s Khammam Alone Accounts For Almost 50% Loss: FSI Report. India recorded a net loss of 367 sq km of forests between 2009 and 2011, with Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh alone losing 182 sq km of green cover in the period, the latest ‘state of forest’ report has found. The report, prepared biennially by the Forest Survey of India — the Dehradun based wing of the environment and forests ministry — was released on Tuesday.

India’s overall forest cover has declined by 367 sq-kms in the past two years despite a few states actually expanding their forest areas. The net loss is mainly on account of Naxalites destroying close to 200 sq-km of forests in Andhra Pradesh, a government report said in Tuesday. The country’s total forest cover now stands at 23.81 per cent of total geographical area.

The Government has announced the creation of six projects in public-private partnership mode in non-timber forest produce (NTFP), covering around 60 Naxal-affected districts in the country.

The projects, to be executed within six months, will cover Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, according to a Rural Development Ministry release here on Friday.

The government’s plan of ushering in a green revolution in eastern states doesn’t seem to have taken off in the country’s biggest paddy (de-husked) rice producing state of West Bengal. Till January 20, only 50 per cent of the total funds allocated for the state were released by the Centre.

Officials said a reason for the low funds was the lack of fresh proposals from the state.

ROURKELA: Armed with the Saranda Action Plan, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday detailed his much-hyped ‘peace offensive’ to curb insurgency along the Odisha-Jharkhand border. On his second visit to the Maoist-infested Saranda forest region in the neighbouring Jharkhand, Ramesh laid the foundation stone for the Integrated Development Centre at the remote Digha village of West Singhbhum district, about 16 km from Odisha border and addressed villagers.

Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh clearly and categorically advocated not to issue any fresh licence for mining in the iron ore rich Saranda area. The Minister also divulged that several such applications had come when he was heading the Forest and Environment Ministry but declined to give his nod on any of them except to the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

Farmers representatives who participated in the monthly farmers' grievances day meeting held at the Collectorate on Friday urged the State government to come out with a separate budget for agriculture.

They said the government of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka have been presenting separate budget for farm sector since 2011. D. Thiagarajan, senior regional manager, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), presided over the meeting.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has rejected clearance to one of the ironore mines of state-owned NMDC in Bailadila district, Chhattisgarh, a senior official of the company said. “The file (for forest clearance of the mine) has been returned, may be due to misrepresentation or something like that,” NMDC director (finance) S Thiagarajan said. He added that the Chhattisgarh government has taken up the issue with the MoEF and a positive outcome is expected in three months.

A Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) panel has recommended clearance for the 18-MTPA Talaipalli coal-mine project of NTPC in the Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

The project had come up for discussion for grant of environmental clearance in the meeting of Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) that was held recently.