Parliament Told 350 sq km of Himalayan Tree Cover Lost Since 2021

India's Parliament learned that tree cover in the Indian Himalayan Region fell by 351.61 square kilometres between 2021 and 2023, according to the India State of Forest Report 2023. The disclosure came alongside updates on elephant deaths in train collisions, India's rising average temperature, nuclear energy expansion and the achievement of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol.

Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh informed the Rajya Sabha that tree cover across the 13-state Indian Himalayan Region declined from 15,427.11 sq km in 2021 to 15,075.5 sq km in 2023. The region's total carbon stock stands at 3,273.10 million tonnes. Separately, 12 elephants died in train collisions in 2024-25, while road casualty data on elephants is not compiled centrally. India's average temperature rose by approximately 0.7 degrees Celsius between 1901 and 2018, with warming largely attributed to greenhouse gas emissions partly offset by aerosols and land-use changes.

The parliamentary updates reflect converging environmental pressures on India's Himalayan and lowland ecosystems. The documented temperature rise, rising frequency of precipitation extremes — up 75 per cent between 1950 and 2015 — and increasing drought incidence signal accelerating climate stress. The achievement of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by December 2025, ahead of schedule, marks a significant milestone in reducing transport emissions. Ethanol blending volumes grew from 380 million litres in 2013-14 to more than 10,000 million litres in 2024-25.

India's nuclear energy roadmap targets 100 GW of installed capacity by 2047, with 13,600 MW of new reactors currently under implementation and completion expected by 2031-32. The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, notified in June 2023 and managed through the Grid Controller of India, applies mandatory greenhouse gas intensity targets to obligated entities in energy-intensive industries. The government's Zero Fatality District road safety initiative has been expanded to 100 high-risk districts across 15 states following a pilot in Nagpur.

Key figure — 351.61 sq km tree cover lost in Indian Himalayan Region between 2021 and 2023