Question raised in Lok Sabha on Villages in Forest Areas, 15/03/2016. The villages in forest areas may include forest villages, old habitations, unsurveyed villages and other villages in the forests, whether recorded, notified or not into revenue villages. However, as per information available in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the State-wise details of the forest

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Use of Banned Pesticides, 15/03/2016. There are 261 technical pesticides registered under section 9(3) of the Insecticides Act, 1968. The list is at Annexure-I. In addition, the details of the formulations registered are at Annexure-II. The Government registers pesticides only after a detailed evaluation of safety and efficacy to human, animal and environmental health. Technical reviews are carried out from time to time and continued use of pesticides is permitted only if found safe.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Solid Waste Management, 15/03/2016. Government of India has launched Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on 2nd October, 2014 with the target to make the country clean by 2nd October, 2019 by providing financial central assistance to the States. The Mission covers all 4041 statutory towns / cities as per 2011 census. One of the admissible components under SBM is Municipal Solid Waste Management with maximum of 20% viability gap funding (VGF)/grant to the States.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Schemes for Checking Water Pollution, 15/03/2016. The Ministry is implementing a number of Schemes for control and prevention of water pollution which include National River Conservation Programme (NRCP), National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP), National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) under which financial assistance is provided to the State implementing agencies. State-wise details of the funds released during the last three years and current year under various schemes are given at Annexure

Question raised in Lok Sabha on River Pollution, 15/03/2016. Discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities / towns and industrial effluents constitute a major source of pollution in rivers. As per the report published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in February 2015, 302 polluted river stretches have been identified on 275 rivers, including Brahamani and Mahanadi,

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Pollution Level, 15/03/2016. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) are monitoring ambient air quality across the country under National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP). Three air pollutants viz., Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter size equal to or less than 10 micron (PM10), are monitored at all the 612 operating monitoring stations located in 254 cities/towns in 29 states and 5 union territories across the country.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on National Air Quality Index, 15/03/2016, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) started disseminating the Air Quality Index (AQI) for 10 cities based on the data CAAQM stations. At present, 23 cities are connected to the web-based system of National AQI. They are Agra, Ahmadabad, Bangaluru, Chandrapur, Chennai, Delhi, Faridabad, Gaya, Gurgaon, Haldia, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Muzaffarpur, Navi Mumbai, Panchkula, Patna, Pune, Solapur and Varanasi.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Lion Reserves, 15/03/2016. Asiatic Lions are found only in Gir forests of Gujarat. Total number of lions in Gir forest as per the last census carried out in 2015 was estimated as 523. As per information available with the Ministry, there is no case of death of lions due to poaching in Gujarat. Details of elephants and tigers killed due to hunting/poaching during last three years and the current year is given in the Annexure-I. Cases of poaching of other wild animals are not collated in the Ministry.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Forest Management, 15/03/2016. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and climate Change is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) titled “Intensification of Forest Management Scheme”. Under the scheme, funds are provided to State and Union Territory Governments to supplement their efforts towards protection and management of forests. The details of total funds released to the States/UTs during each of the last two years and the current year, State-wise are given in annexure-1.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Elephant Menace, 15/03/2016. The compensation to victims of wildlife depredation in case of loss of crops and properties, is as per official assessment of the damage caused. An ex-gratia amount of Rs. two lakhs is paid by Central Government in case of human deaths. State-wise details of damage due to elephant depredation and compensation paid to
victims during the last three years are given in Annexure I (A), I (B) and I(C).