23,716 industrial projects replace forests over 30 years

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Currently, up to 25,000 hectares of forests–250 sq km, or more than twice Chandigarh’s area–are handed over every year for “non-forestry activities”, including defence projects, dams,


mining, power plants, industries and roads, the government recently told Parliament. The rate of “diversion”, as the process is called, varies across states.