At a glance: Forest covers in cities

Increasing economic growth and infrastructure have adversely impacted the environment and have resulted in a decline in green covers. To tackle this issue, India’s major states are introducing policies to increase green covers.

In a recent study based on Google Earth’s Landsat satellite data, an attempt was made to observe the area of green and forest covers in the major cities in India.

The data suggest that Delhi is India’s leading city in green and forest cover with a total of 56% of its land dedicated to the forest, while Kolkata is second with 52% of forest cover. Banglore and Hyderabad stand third with 51% of green and forest cover.

Chennai dedicates only 43% of its land to forest and green covers while the number for Mumbai goes as low as 12%. India pledged to increase its green and forest cover from 21% to 33% in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.