New Delhi: The Union environment ministry approved felling more than 2.8 million trees on forest land between July 2023 and May 2026, according to a recent analysis by Down To Earth. The analysis found that of the 288 unique proposals received at the ministry for diverting forests, it approved 242.Analysis of meeting recordsDTE analysed the minutes of meetings of the Advisory Committee set up under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, that have been published by the ministry. They enumerated that number of forest diversion proposals appeared before the committee, counting each proposal only once regardless of how many times it appeared before the C=committee.Of the total 288 unique forest diversion proposals, the committee approved 242: an approval rate of more than 80%. Per the report, the records also showed that more than 22,000 hectares of forest land were diverted for non-forestry projects including mining, hydropower and transmission lines.Though forest land was diverted across 27 sectors during the three years, mining projects accounted for the highest number of trees approved for felling or felled, at 1.35 million. Then followed hydropower projects, with 0.93 million trees. Rehabilitation projects accounted for 0.23 million trees.“Together, these three sectors made up close to 90 per cent of all tree felling recorded in the forest diversion proposals analysed by DTE,” the report noted. In terms of area, 139 of the 288 proposals to divert forest land pertained to clearing trees in area ranging from 0 and 10 hectares, 55 involved land between 11 to 100 hectares, and 35 involved land from 101 to 500 hectares. Nine projects pertained to diverting forest land ranging from 501 to 1,000 hectares, and four involved forest land diversions of more than 1,000 hectares.Chhattisgarh leadsAmong states, Chhattisgarh led in terms of the number of trees approved for felling during the three years, per the report. The committee approved more than 0.4 million trees (4 lakh trees) to be felled for the Kente Extension opencast coal mining and pit-head coal washery project in Surguja division, a project that has caused significant protests from local communities regarding land and forest rights claims, DTE reported.Meanwhile, the analysis also found that at least 84 projects recorded no tree felling. The minutes of meetings of 14 projects did not mention tree-felling data at all. This included the Sijimali bauxite mining project in Odisha, where around 700 hectares of forest land is to be diverted. The Vedanta Group that runs the mine had submitted a proposal in 2024 by Vedanta to clear 708.204 hectares of forest land for the bauxite mine.Though the minutes acknowledged tree enumeration was being undertaken and the potential impact of felling in the area, it did not mention an exact number of trees, DTE reported.Per the report, the minutes for this project claimed that the ecological impact of tree felling would be “minimal”, because the plateau’s current ecosystem supports “limited biodiversity, with most species reliant on valley vegetation for survival”. Contradictorily, the same minutes also said that felling trees near valley areas could disrupt wildlife habitats, displace species, increase soil erosion and lead to sedimentation of nearby water bodies, DTE reported.In 2019, DTE had reported that between 2016 and 2019, the ministry had approved the felling of 69.4 lakh trees, based on data supplied by the minister of state for the environment in parliament that year.