Telangana ranks first in environmental protection, forest cover: KTR lauds efforts

HYDERABAD: There is just another reason to smile and celebrate as Telangana now ranks top among the Indian states in protecting the environment, particularly forest cover.

Encomiums for this achievement came from the Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao. In his tweet, he said that in the latest book released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the eve of world environmental day, Telangana stood as clear number one among all Indian states. “Kudos to the visionary leadership of CM KCR Garu and his brainchild ‘Haritha Haaram’,” he said.

States were ranked by the CSE based on the marks they achieved on a scale of 1-10. Telangana topped with 7.213, followed by Gujarat with 6.593. While sibling state Andhra Pradesh secured a sixth position with a score of 5.567, Rajasthan stood last among 29 states with a score of 2.757. Six northeastern states also scored less and stood in the last just above Rajasthan. Telangana is the only state that scored more than 70 percent.

Telangana was recognised for its achievement in improving forest cover which has multiple benefits; it remained top of municipal waste management. The report however felt that the state still has to do more in the areas (indicators) of share of water bodies not in use, stage of groundwater extraction and change in the number of polluted river stretches.