Last year was a marginally better year for environmental protection, according to new data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Environmental crimes dropped by 11%, from 5,846 incidents in 2014 to 5,156 in 2015. Most of the incidents occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
More than 8,000 people were arrested in relation to violations of the Indian Forest Act, the Wildlife Protection Act, the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986, the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981 and the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
Though environment-related crimes dropped across the country, the number of crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Assam rose. The majority of these crimes were related to illegal deforestation and land encroachment. Almost 830 violations of the Wildlife Protection Act were committed.
The NCRB began collecting environmental crime data in 2014.
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