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Government updates Parliament on forest cover in the Himalayan region and rising extreme weather events
Data shows 12 elephants died in train collisions in 2024–25, while road accident data is not centrally compiled
India’s average temperature has risen by about 0.7°C since 1901, according to government assessment
Updates were also provided on nuclear energy expansion, ethanol blending targets and road safety initiatives
Separate responses in the Lok Sabha detailed carbon credit safeguards and a diarrhoeal outbreak in Indore
Tree cover in the Indian Himalayan Region declined to 15,075.5 square kilometres (sq km) in 2023 from 15,427.11 sq km in 2021, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
The Indian Himalayan Region spans 13 states and Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Assam and West Bengal.
The total carbon stock in forests across the Indian Himalayan Region has been estimated at 3,273.10 million tonnes in ISFR 2023, compared with 3,272.68 million tonnes in ISFR 2021, the minister added.
Twelve elephants died due to train collisions in 2024-25, according to official data, Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
Data on elephant casualties caused by road vehicles is not collated by the MoEF&CC, he stated. State governments and Union Territory administrations act as the first responders in cases of wild animal deaths and maintain data on such incidents and the species involved.
The ministry has also published a comprehensive report titled Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India.
India’s average temperature rose by about 0.7 degrees Celsius (°C) between 1901 and 2018, a new assessment by Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has found, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha
The government monitors and records the occurrence of extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, heatwaves and cyclones across the country. Several studies have examined observed changes in extreme weather and climate events. The MoES has recently published a detailed assessment covering rainfall and temperature trends using long-term observational data and future simulations in a report titled Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region.
The increase in the country’s average temperature was noted in the report, and the increase was largely attributed to greenhouse gas-induced warming, partly offset by the influence of anthropogenic aerosols and changes in land use and land cover (LULC).
During the recent 30-year period between 1986 and 2015, temperatures of the warmest day and the coldest night of the year increased by about 0.63°C and 0.4°C respectively.
The frequency of daily precipitation extremes — defined as rainfall intensities exceeding 150 mm per day — increased by around 75 per cent between 1950 and 2015.
The frequency and spatial extent of droughts across India also increased significantly during 1951-2015, the minister stated.
India’s current installed nuclear power capacity stands at 8,780 megawatts (MW) from 24 nuclear power plants, excluding the 100 MW Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Unit-1 (RAPP-1), SIngh told the Rajya Sabha.
In addition, 18 nuclear power reactors with a combined capacity of 13,600 MW are under implementation. These include eight reactors currently under construction — including the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) — and 10 reactors in the pre-project stage.
These projects are expected to be completed progressively by 2031-32.
As part of the Nuclear Energy Mission roadmap to achieve 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, three additional projects — KAPP-5 & 6 (2 × 700 MW), RAPP-9 & 10 (2 × 700 MW), and NAPP-3 & 4 (2 × 700 MW) — are planned by 2035.
The Grid Controller of India maintains a secure database of the Indian carbon market and records of all transactions to prevent any fraudulent carbon credit transactions, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Power Shripad Naik told the Lok Sabha.
The enterprise serves as the registry for the Indian carbon market under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, which was notified in June 2023 and subsequently amended. It also functions as the meta-registry for the country’s carbon market.
Mandatory compliance with greenhouse gas emission intensity (GEI) targets under the scheme applies only to emission-intensive industries designated as “obligated entities”, whose annual energy consumption exceeds specified thresholds.
While setting GEI targets for different entities, the marginal abatement cost of technological measures available to these industries is taken into account to ensure the targets remain practical and achievable, the minister stated.
India achieved its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol in December 2025, ahead of the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26 timeline, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi told the Lok Sabha.
The target had been advanced from 2030 to ESY 2025-26 — which runs from November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026 — under the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, amended in 2022.
The government has promoted the fuel blending practice through the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme. Ethanol blending increased from 380 million litres in ESY 2013-14 to more than 10,000 million litres in ESY 2024-25.
Public sector oil marketing companies achieved the earlier milestone of 10 per cent ethanol blending in June 2022, five months ahead of schedule during ESY 2021-22.
Blending levels subsequently rose to 12.06 per cent in ESY 2022-23, 14.6 per cent in ESY 2023-24 and 19.24 per cent in ESY 2024-25.
During ESY 2025-26, more than 3,530 million litres of ethanol had been blended as of February 28, 2026, maintaining an average ethanol blending rate of 20 per cent in petrol.
The Zero Fatality District (ZFD) initiative aims to eliminate road crash fatalities through a comprehensive approach that combines engineering, enforcement, emergency care and education, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari told the Lok Sabha.
The programme was initially piloted in Nagpur and has since been expanded nationally and to other state government agencies. As part of the expansion, 100 high-risk districts across 15 states have been identified for targeted interventions.
On December 28, 2025, cases of vomiting and diarrhoea were reported in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore, located in Ward No. 11, Zone 4 of the assembly constituency, according to information provided by the Madhya Pradesh government, Minister of State Tokhan Sahu from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs told the Lok Sabha.
The state government reported 22 deaths due to acute diarrhoeal disease in the area, while 459 people were hospitalised. Ex gratia financial assistance has been provided to the families of the deceased in accordance with state norms. Dependents of each deceased person received compensation of Rs 2 lakh.