The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests has urged the environment ministry to take stringent steps to curb the illegal felling of trees. No action plans was prepared by the ministry to control illegal cutting of trees.

A parliamentary panel expressed concern over forest degradation in the country, especially in the north-eastern states, and urged the Environment Ministry to take stringent steps to curb the illegal felling of trees. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, in its 324th report on "Status of Forests in India" tabled in the Rajya Sabha, said no action plan was prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for controlling the illegal cutting of trees in forests. The panel relied on the India State of Forest Report, 2017, according to which the total forest and tree cover in India was 80.20 million hectares, which was 24.39 per cent of the geographical area of the country. However, the report said, there was a reduction of 0.34 million hectares of moderately dense forests, which indicated forest degradation. [2]