In India Wasteland declines by 5 lakh hectare during

India’s wasteland declined above five lakh hectare during 2005 to 2008, a national wasteland atlas released on recently has noted.

The atlas prepared by the NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) under the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has stated that wasteland during 2005 to 2008 declined by 32 lakh hectare while in crease in wasteland was to the tune of 27 lakh hectare.

The most of the decline in wasteland had been due to use of land for industrial purpose, creation of plantation cover & land being used for agricultural purpose, the atlas prepared for the department of land resources under ministry of rural development has noted.

Industrial Purpose..!

The atlast also indicate more than 13,769 hectare of wasteland has been used for industrial purpose with states such as

Karnataka - 2,965 hectare,

Gujarat - 2,319 hectare,

Rajasthan - 1,638 hectare,

Tamil Nadu - 1,537 hectare,

Andhra Pradesh - 1,087 hectare  have been leaders in using wasteland for setting up industries.

Green Cover..!

Above 80,000 hectare of wasteland has been taken up under plantation with Karnataka, Kerala & Andhra Pradesh have been leaders in creating 'green cover'.

The atlas also reveals that 13 lakh hectare of wasteland have been used for agricultural activities with states such as

Rajasthan - 0.5 mh,

Gujarat -0.2 mh,

Bihar - 0.1 mh and

Jharkhand - 0.1 mh are the leading states.

Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Rural Development Minister said, “Such detailed district level mapping would help us in focusing on areas where wasteland could be used for economic & ecological benefits”

Decline and Rise..!

The atlas say that the area under the wastelands have declined states like as Rajastahn, Mizoram, Manipur, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh. However during the 2005 to 2008, a slight increase in wastelands areas were recorded in the states such as Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Uttarkhand.

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