A decade under Modi: Environmental protections diluted, Cheetah project falters

A quick look at how the Modi government fared on protecting India’s forests and environment and tackling climate change.

Feb 12, 2024 - 02:00

A decade under Modi: Environmental protections diluted, Cheetah project falters

Forests

In its 2014 manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party promised to protect India’s existing forests and wildlife reserves. In its 2019 manifesto, it claimed to have added about 9,000 sq km of forest cover.

Data from India’s State of Forest Reports bears this out. According to the reports, prepared by a government organisation, between 2015 and 2022, India added 12,294 sq km of forests, significantly higher than the 6,966 sq km added between 2005 and 2013.

But remote sensing data does not tally with the figures cited in the government reports. Experts have pointed out that commercial plantations like coffee and rubber have been included in the category of forests.

In 2016, the Modi government introduced a new law to raise more funds for compensatory afforestation, or plantations that compensate the loss of forests for development activities. While the funds available for afforestation increased tremendously – from around Rs 2,900 crore in 2009-’12 to around Rs 51,000 crore in 2019-’22 – they remain underutilised. Moreover, an investigation by Scroll found that several of these plantations simply did not exist on ground.

In 2023, amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, were criticised for changing the definition of forests in a way that would strip away protection for 28% of India’s forests.