New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) A total 7,506 square kilometres of recorded forest area -- five times the geographical area of Delhi -- is currently under encroachment in the country, according to government data.

Assam alone accounts for 3,407.48 square kilometres (12.69 per cent of its geographical area) of forest land under encroachment. This is 45 per cent of the total encroached forest land in India.

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India has a total 7,75,288 square kilometres of forest area, constituting 23.58 per cent of its total geographical area.

The latest data showed that 750,633 hectares or 7,506.33 square kilometers of forest land has been encroached in the country.

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In 2022, the forest area under encroachment stood at 7,400 square kilometres, according to data shared in August of that year.

The northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura together account for 56 per cent of the total forest land under encroachment.

The encroached forest land stands at 534.50 square kilometres in Arunachal Pradesh, 22.13 square kilometres in Manipur, 98.16 square kilometres in Meghalaya, 107.07 square kilometres in Mizoram, 0.25 square kilometres in Nagaland and 36.21 square kilometres in Tripura.

The data highlights that Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry have no encroachment on their entire forest land.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)