Hyderabad: The Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021, shows that the capital of Telangana, Hyderabad has topped the list of all megacities in green cover developed over the last decade. According to the report, the green cover in the city has increased 81.81 sq km from 33.15 sq km.
Telangana’s Haritha Haram is a large-scale tree-planting program implemented by the Government of Telangana by the chief minister Chandrasekhar Rao in 2015, to increase the amount of tree cover in the state from 24 percent to 33 percent.
Plantations have been done across the state including the outer ring road, road interactions, and, development of parks, particularly in the capital of the state. The huge contribution to plantations is placed by the development of urban forest parks.
188 forest blocks were developed in 129 locations, alongside a total of 1.60 acres of land that was rejuvenated, within the limits of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA). 59 urban parks, located in HMDA, over 59,522 acres, are also under the process of rejuvenation. The plantation is expected to be completed up to Alair in a span of two to three months.
Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, recently conducted a video conference with Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), R Shobha, and hailed the development of green cover in Hyderabad.