Summary:
GHAZIABAD: The forest cover of Ghaziabad has increased by one square kilometre as per a report of Forest Survey of India. There is no ‘very dense’ forest cover in Ghaziabad. “This means the cover has increased by one sq km in Ghaziabad.”The report states there is nine ‘moderately dense’ forest in Ghaziabad while 26 ‘open forests’. “After carefully analysing the FSI’s 2017 report, we have concluded that the forest cover in Ghaziabad has increased by 0.32% as against the decline in 2013 by more than 1%,” said BP Singh, district forest officer. But environmentalists have brushed aside the State of Forest Report 2017, saying it did not take into account the geographical area of Hapur that had been the trend in the past three years.As per the report, the forest cover in Ghaziabad accounts for 2.21% of the total geographical area which, at present, is 1,179 sq km..