Question raised in Lok Sabha on Forest Village in Gujarat, 04/01/2019. As per information received from respective State Governments and Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the number of the forest villages and villages inside the core/critical tiger habitat in the country, State-wise including Gujarat, is given at Annexure-I. Developments work like road, drinking water, school, electrification, sanitation, etc are done in forest settlement villages by the respective line departments and forest department of a State Government.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Forest Fire, 04/01/2019. Forest Fires occur every year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles etc. Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, disseminates the satellite based forest fire alerts to the State Forest Departments and other registered users whenever forest fires are detected. The details of forest fire alerts issued to all State/ Union Territory Forest Departments during the last three years is given in Annexure-I.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Attack by Tigers, 04/01/2019. As reported by States, number of people killed in tiger attacks across the country during last three years and current year, is at Annexure-I. The National Tiger Conservation Authority has a three pronged strategy to prevent conflict between human beings and wild animals which is elaborated at Annexure-II.

The Directorate of Economics and Statistics brings out its flagship publication “Agricultural Statistics at a Glance” every year. The publication is widely used as a trusted source of information on various aspects of agriculture and allied sector, including crop production and productivity, growth and investment in agriculture, minimum support price, cost of production, terms of trade, imports and exports, land-use statistics, agricultural inputs, rainfall distribution, etc.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Untreated sewage flowing into the rivers, 31/12/2018. As per a report published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in March, 2015, the sewage generation from urban areas in the country is estimated at 61,948 million litres per day (mld), against which the available sewage treatment capacity is only 23,277 mld (37% of the sewage generation). The untreated sewage is discharged into various rivers, other water bodies as well as the sea.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Illegal trade in wildlife articles, 31/12/2018. As per the information provided by the State authorities, illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife articles has not increased over the years. Details of the cases of illegal trade received from the State authorities during last three years is given in the Annexure.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Ill effects of air pollution, 31/12/2018. Ambient air quality is being monitored at 731 locations covering 312 cities/towns in 29 States and 6 Union Territories across the country under National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP). The ambient air quality data for million plus cities is attached at Annexure-I.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Solid Waste, 28/12/2018. As per the information available with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) 52.9 Million Ton per Annum (MTPA) of solid waste is generated in the country, out of which, 46% is processed. The State/UT-wise details are enclosed in the Annexure.