Page 31 - Haryana Water Resources Atlas 2025

Forest Cover (2023)

aryana is primarily an agricultural state of India and 84.28% of the total
geographical area is under agriculture. As per the Champion & Seth
HClassification of Forest Types (1968), the forests in Haryana belong to three
forest type groups i.e. Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest, Tropical Thorn Forest and N
Subtropical Pine Forests which are divided into 10 forest types. Over 500 bird species
have been recorded in the state which is almost 40% of total bird species in the W E
country. Although the maximum portion of the geographical area consists of
agricultural fields, over time, the state has achieved a unique status in the field of
S
agroforestry which has enabled the forest deficient state to support a large number of
wood-based industries based on farm-grown timber. Scale
Kms
The Table 10 represents the forest cover area in the Haryana state, based on the 0 12.5 25 50 75 100
interpretation of IRS Resourcesat-2 LISS III satellite data of the period Oct to Dec
2023. The Forest Cover in the State is 398891.72 Acre which is 3.65% of the state’s
geographical area. In terms of forest canopy density classes, the state has 6713.84
Acre under Very Dense Forest (VDF), 109017.78 Acre under Moderately Dense Forest
(MDF) and 283160.09 Acre under Open Forest (OF).
Figure 9 provides an overview of the distribution of forested areas across the state.
Notably, Panchkula accounts for over 43% of the forested area while Yamunanagar
and Faridabad, each have approximately above 10% of the forested area within their
boundaries. The forests in Panchkula and Yamunanagar are classified as very dense
and moderately dense, while those in Faridabad and Gurugram are classified as
moderately dense and open forests. Additionally, the districts of Mahendragarh,
Rewari, and Mewat, which are situated on the outskirts of the Aravalli Range have
significant areas covered by open forests and shrublands.

Table 10 Assessment of Forest Cover Area

2023 Assessment (Area in Acres)
Very Moderately Open % of
District Dense Dense Forest Total Scrub TGA
Forest Forest
Ambala 0.00 4277.39 9726.05 14003.44 22.24 3.60
Bhiwani 0.00 1008.19 14463.06 15471.24 1766.80 1.85
Charkhi Dadri 0.00 879.69 10467.37 11347.06 2223.95 3.32
Faridabad 0.00 6419.79 12960.66 19380.45 4991.52 10.58
Fatehabad 0.00 731.43 4534.38 5265.81 264.40 0.84
Gurugram 0.00 7870.29 20079.75 27950.05 5045.88 8.99
Hisar 0.00 2656.38 11809.15 14465.53 1551.82 1.47
Jhajjar 0.00 56.83 6259.17 6316.00 1588.89 1.39
Jind 0.00 1183.63 5347.35 6530.99 19.77 0.98
Kaithal 0.00 5315.23 8107.52 13422.74 234.75 2.34
Karnal 0.00 1027.96 7114.15 8142.11 165.56 1.32
Kurukshetra 0.00 4927.27 6446.97 11374.24 417.61 3.00
Mahendragarh 0.00 5372.06 22133.19 27505.26 9906.44 5.86
Mewat 0.00 3355.69 23568.87 26924.56 6708.90 7.23
Palwal 0.00 600.47 2814.53 3414.99 49.42 1.02
Panchkula 1408.50 36470.23 58521.88 96400.60 5023.64 43.44
Panipat 0.00 766.03 3180.24 3946.27 158.15 1.24
Rewari 0.00 2940.55 12244.05 15184.60 2251.13 3.86
Rohtak 0.00 336.06 3256.84 3592.91 252.05 0.85
Sirsa 0.00 874.75 15083.29 15958.04 37.07 1.51
Sonipat 0.00 657.30 4937.16 5594.46 207.57 1.05
Yamunanagar 5305.34 21290.57 20104.46 46700.37 202.63 10.69
Haryana 6713.84 109017.78 283160.09 398891.72 43090.17 3.65
Source: FSI

Figure 9. Forest Cover (2023)
Data Source-FSI, Haryana
Haryana Water Resources Atlas 13|