© 2017 IJSRST | Volume 3 | Issue 8 | Print ISSN: 2395-6011 | Online ISSN: 2395-602X

Themed Section: Science and Technology

A Study of Deforestation In India

Dr. Sunita Kalra
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur, Rewari, Haryana, India

ABSTRACT

Deforestation is major threat that affects the environment in the world. The deforestation make so many bad impact
on the earth, this may lead to the end of life in earth. There are some causes behind the deforestation. Here in this
study it deals with impacts and causes of deforestation.
Keywords : Deforestation, Impact, causes, threats, India

I. INTRODUCTION natural resources. Due to overpopulation,

industrialization, urbanization, road construction, mining
Forests have the role of an important part of the wealth and other developmental activities the natural habitats of
of any country. In our nation, the forest preservation gets the flora and fauna are disturbed and have caused
a major important. The preservation is taken over by the tremendous pressure on the living resources. Many plant
government and Government Forest Department is in and animal species are on the verge of extinction or
charge. Forests play major influence upon the climate; endangered. Forest destruction may also be caused by
for they attract rain and preserve moisture. It is an several adverse factors as landslides, drought, flood,
important matter forests do in a dry country like India. storm, earthquakes, diseases, water and air pollution and
The surrounding atmosphere always cools by the human interference. Other adverse factors such as lack
evaporation from the eaves of a tree by giving off of stable soil, aridity, swampiness, biotic agencies,
moisture. The moisture is in condensed form and it was commercial exploitation etc. may also be responsible for
dissolved in rain. Any kind of destruction to forests depletion of forest vegetation. Natural diversity of India
quickly changes the climate of the whole district as a is one of the richest in the world which is disappearing
consequence. The first Government Forest Act came gradually due to aforesaid factors.
into being in India in 1865. This law ceded the power to
the princely states for the promulgation of laws aimed at According to FAO report, the annual deforestation rate
protecting the valuable trees in the Indian forests. Indian in India was 0.6 percent (0.34 million hectares during
Forest Act of 1927 which prevails in most of the state is the period 1981 to 1990). According to Ravindra Nath
the revised version of Indian Forest Act of 1878. and Hall (1944) 144 million hectares was afforested
every year. In 1990, the total forested area in India was
II. DEFORESTATION 70.6 million hectares of which 27 percent was under
commercial plantations considering mainly of
Destruction of forest is called deforestation. eucalyptus, teak and pine. According to Khoshod (1986)
Deforestation has serious effect on human life and the total area under forest in the world was about 7000
environment. According to the survey of forest million ha. in 1900. By 1975 it was reduced to 2890
Department, India has about 75 million hectares of million ha. By the end of 2000 AD, total area under
forest area. Recently collected satellite imagery data forest in the world will be reduced to about 2370 million
have revealed that only about 17 percent area is covered ha, if the present trend of deforestation continues. The
by forest. India is losing 1.3 million hectare of forest a destruction of forest cover in the ecologically sensitive
year. In the hilly region deforestation is so acute that Himalaya region has already started showing adverse
economy and ecology of the area is severely affected. impact in the form of increasing shortage of water,
The original vegetation of Himalaya has been greatly recurrent landslides, increasing flood, high
destroyed which has resulted in gradual loss of the sedimentation ii the rivers, shortage of fuel and fodder

IJSRST184147 | Received : 11 Dec 2017 | Accepted : 31 Dec 2017 | November-December-2017 [(3)8: 1333-1335 ]
1333
and decrease in grassing land. Due to deforestation the  Turning of forest into hot houses: In Andhra Pradesh,
life supporting systems are disturbed. Underground temperate forest areas turn into hot houses and are
water table is progressively going deeper and deeper. lashed by hurricane - like forests of rain.
Large are of the land becomes affected by drought and  Occurrence of droughts: Occurrence of drought is
well tube, wells, lakes, pounds etc. dry up sooner than very common in state of Rajasthan. Its large portion
expected during summer months. of land is turning into wasteland. Chronic droughts
In Kumaon and Garbwal Himalaya the oak forests are have also begun in areas like Tamilnadu and
maintaining general environment and villagers depend to Himachal Pradesh where they were unknown.
a great extent for fodder, fuel and some of other
necessities on these forests. But now oak forests are IV. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
being destroyed to meet the ever increasing demands of
the people. This has resulted marked changes in the There are so many reasons behind the deforestation. The
environmental conditions. Community associated with different causes of deforestation are as follows:
oak are destroyed. This may lead to the loss of medicinal 1. Overgrazing: Overgrazing in forests destroys newly
herbs and shrubs associated with oak. This availability regenerates growth. It also makes soil more compact
of fodder will be reduced and the age-old animal link in and impervious. Soil becomes less fertile due to
the hill eco-system would be broken. destruction of organic matter. Seeds of certain
At the earth Summit in Rio Jedenero (1992) issue related species do not germinate in excessively grazed soils
to deforestation was major concern. The Agenda 21 of which results in reduction of species. Over grazing
the UNCED (United Nation Conference on Environment also leads to desertification. Domesticated are thus
and Development) stated "Deforestation is a result of deprived of their natural grazing and forage support.
many causes, some natural, but others mainly due to Over grazing also accelerates the soil erosion. Soil
human development, such as inappropriate land tenure erosion results in the removal of minerals and
systems and incentives, expansion of agricultural areas, nutrients from the top soil and adversely affects the
increasing forest product demand and lack of soil structure which ultimately lowers the
information about and understanding of the value of productivity. Satellite imagery data indicate that the
forests". area under pasture land is severely degraded. The
uncontrolled and indiscriminate grazing in the
III. ECO-SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL forests leads to degradation of forest soil and affects
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION natural regeneration of forests.
2. Shifting cultivation: This is most common in
 Loss of top soil: It’s virtually respectable as nature North-Eastern India due to heavy water erosion;
takes about 1,000 years to build an inch of soil, shifting cultivation is locally called shum. Many
12,000 Mt of India's top soil is disappearing down farmers destroy the forest for agricultural and
the rivers every year, a report in Economist, and commercial purposes and when fertility of soil is
London says (10.1. September 24, 1986). exhausted due to repeated cropping, a new forest
 Loss of food grains: As a result of soil erosion the area is destroyed. Therefore farmers should be
country loses 300-500 Iakh tones of food grains advised to use the same land for cultivation and
every year. apply improved farming methods. It is estimated
 Loss due to floods: The flood affected area shot up that every year about one million hectare land is
from an average of 64 Mha every year in 1950's to 9 degraded by shifting cultivation.
Mha in the 1980's. During the period 1981-86, the 3. Fuel wood: Maximum destruction of forest
loss due to flood alone was Rs. 50,000 million. vegetation is done for fuel wood. In the total fuel
 Threatening of Himalayan Ecosystem: The entire wood uses nearly 85 percent issued in rural areas
Himalayan eco system is threatened and under and 15 percent in urban areas. The annual fire wood
severe imbalance as snow-lines has thinned and consumption was 134 million tonnes in cities in
perennial springs have dried up. 1987. According to an estimate of Forest Survey of
India (1987), the annual demand for fire wood in the

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 country was 235 million cubic meters. Thus fuel past few decades. The construction of roads and
wood is a major factor for deforestation. railways particularly in hilly terrains, setting up of
4. Forest fires: Frequent fires are the major cause of big irrigation projects have caused enough
destruction of forests in India. Some fires are destruction to forest and accelerated the natural
incidental while the majority of them are deliberate. process of denudation.
According to study conducted by the forest survey 10. Ravine formation: The forests and cultivated lands
of India (1996), on averages, 63.1% forest along the sides of ravines of big rivers (Yamuna and
vegetation is affected by fire. Data further indicate Chambal) are facing a serious danger of soil erosion.
that fire destroys about 0.5 million hectares of Once the ravines are formed, they continue to
forests annually. destroy the vegetation cover.
5. Timber: Timber and plywood industries are mainly 11. Increase in population: The population of India
responsible for the destruction of forest trees. which was 36 crores in 1951. And it reaches up to
According to forest survey of India 1987, against an 1.22 billion in recent year. Increased population
annual demand for more than 27 million cubic need land for reside. So they use the habit of
metres the permissible cut of timber from forests deforestation.
was only 12 million cubic metres.
6. Industry establishment: Sometimes factories are V. CONCLUSION
established after destruction of forest. Thus for a
small gain, there is an irreplaceable loss. In these Deforestation is a serious threat in the environment.
process precious plants, wild animals and rare birds Unless this problem is addressed with the immediate
are destroyed and the quality of environment is concern it would prove detrimental to the very existence
adversely affected. A factory should be established of the life on earth. Forest is the source that make earth
on a waste land away from the urban population. climate in a balanced mode. Deforestation will cause the
Supply of raw materials to the forest based imbalanced climate behavior in our earth.
industries is another major cause of forest
destruction in the hills. The forest based industries VI. REFERENCES
such as Resin and Turpentine industry are also
responsible for destruction of trees in the hills.
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deforestation in India is encroachment by tribals on [2]. Forest Survey of India (2001) state of Forest report
forest land for agriculture and other purposes. 2001. Ministry of Environment and forest,
According to forest survey of India about 7 million Government of India, Dehradun. Website:
of forest land has been encroached upon for http://envfor.nic.in/fsi/sfr99/sfr.html
agriculture. Although such land makes a good [3]. Guidelines for construction in landslide prone areas,
contribution for agriculture production yet produces Sri Lanka Urban Multi-Hazard Disaster Mitigation
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decay of forest plants. Young seedlings are landslide studies and Services Division of NBRO.
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