Data tabled in Parliament and analysed by Down to Earth in February 2026 reveals that India's seven mega cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad — together have 511.81 sq km of forest cover. This marks an increase of 2.09 sq km compared to the 2021 India State of Forest Report (ISFR) baseline.
The marginal increase in urban forest cover comes against a deeply concerning national backdrop: 29,000 hectares of forest land was diverted for non-forest purposes in 2023–24 alone, the highest single-year diversion in recent memory. This diversion — for infrastructure, mining, and industrial projects — underscores the contradiction between India's urban greening initiatives and the continuing loss of natural forest.
Delhi leads among the seven mega cities in terms of forest area due to its Ridge Forest and the Delhi Aravalli Biodiversity Park. Bengaluru and Hyderabad have seen the most urbanisation pressure on their peripheral green zones in recent years.
The Parliament data also highlights the structural weakness of urban forests: they are heavily fragmented, concentrated in specific zones (near defence land, protected ridges, or legacy forest patches), and vulnerable to encroachment. Urban forests provide critical ecosystem services — flood mitigation, urban heat island reduction, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity corridors.
For RAS aspirants, this data is relevant to the RPSC syllabus on environment, ecology, and urban planning. It also illustrates the tension between urban development and environmental conservation — a key governance challenge.