The overall green cover in the National Capital Region has witnessed an increase, according to data compiled by the NCR Planning Board.
“Though the Board is making efforts to increase the green cover in this region what is heartening is that in the last couple of years the green cover has increased from 6.11 per cent to 6.14 per cent,” a top official said.
Officials said there were several areas like Panipat, Rewari, Gurgaon where the green cover had increased, whereas the city of Delhi itself and other areas had also seen a reduction.
The NCR board officials said as per the data based on Forest Survey of India, the green cover in Panipat had increased from 3.61 per cent in 2009 to 3.64 per cent in 2011, while Rewari saw an increase from 1.32 per cent to 3.04 per cent during the same period.
In Gurgaon, the green cover had increased from 8.28 per cent to 8.35 per cent meaning in the overall Haryana sub-region of NCR there has been an increase from 3.25 per cent to 3.35 per cent in green cover.
In the Uttar Pradesh sub-region of NCR comprising Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar, the green cover last year has been more or less equal to what it was in 2009.
Similar is the case of Alwar region of Rajasthan which also falls under NCR.
Officials said that in the National Capital Territory of Delhi the green cover had fallen to 11.87 per cent last year compared to 11.94 per cent in 2009.
“While metro-city Delhi has witnessed a reduction overall the green cover has gone up by a slight degree,” an NCR board official said here.