Delhi’s Forest Cover Shrinks Slightly, Still Largest Among Mega Cities: Report

Delhi has the largest forest cover among India’s mega cities, according to the State of Forest Report released by the Forest Survey of India.

Despite this distinction, the Capital recorded a slight reduction of 0.08 sq km in forest cover between 2021 and 2023, the report stated.

As per the United Nations' definition, mega cities are urban agglomerations with a population of 10 million or more.

In India, six cities meet this criterion: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.

Delhi recorded 195.28 sq km of forest cover in 2023, accounting for 13.17% of its total area of 1,483 sq km. Mumbai follows with 110.84 sq km, and Bengaluru ranks third with 89.61 sq km of forest cover.

Among the cities, Ahmedabad saw the highest increase in forest cover, gaining 5.48 sq km, while Chennai recorded the steepest decline, losing 2.64 sq km.