Question

What is the comparative change in barren and waste land pattern in India between 1960-61 and2008-09

Answer 1

The highest increase was in forest cover category and the highest decrease was in barren and unculturable waste land category:
It is discouraging to note that in spite of massive efforts made by the government to increase forest cover, the area under other non-agricultural uses is still increasing. It is probably due to deforestation, overgrazing and natural hazards etc that forest cover is still below the outline which was set in the National Forest Policy (1952), The decline in barren and waste land can essentially be attributed to the increase in area under non-agricultural use due to massive urbanization and development of roads, railways and canals etc.