Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday used World Environment Day to launch a sharp attack on the Modi government, alleging it is dismantling forests and weakening India’s environmental governance framework.

In a post on X, Kharge claimed natural forests are being steadily eroded while the government uses “manipulated definitions and selective accounting” to project an illusion of progress.

He alleged that nearly 1,91,922 hectares of forest have been cleared in the last 11 years and over 1.6 crore trees destroyed since 2014.

Kharge highlighted specific projects: the Great Nicobar project threatening nearly 10 lakh trees, mining in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand felling lakhs more, and highway expansions in multiple states destroying additional forest cover.

He criticised the India State of Forest Report for including plantations, orchards and commercial tree cover in “forest cover” figures, arguing this masks the loss of dense, biodiverse natural forests.

“This government has weakened and dismantled India’s environmental governance framework built over decades,” Kharge said.

He credited earlier Congress-led governments with creating key laws such as the Wildlife Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act, Forest Rights Act and the National Green Tribunal, which he said the current government has diluted through faster clearances and regulatory relaxations.

Kharge called for environmental policy based on rule of law, community participation and recognition that ecological protection and development are interconnected.