Telangana ranks first among the Indian states in protecting the environment, particularly forest cover. In other sectors, agriculture has been ranked 19 and public health ranked 13. This was detailed in a book released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Though the book is yet to be shared, the minimum details are that 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 Andhra Pradesh secured sixth position with a score of 5.567, Rajasthan stood last with 2.757.
 The state of Telangana has topped the report released by the Centre for Science and Environment to mark the World Environment Day. The organisation has taken into account environmental initiatives undertaken by the Telangana state such as afforestation and municipal waste management, and has given Telangana the top spot.
Minister KT Rama Rao expressed happiness that Telangana state has received this great recognition in the field of environment at the national level.
 KTR said that the Telangana is already standing as an example for the country with its own policies, especially in the field of environment, the reason why Telangana is at the top as it has taken up greening as the second largest human effort in the world and planted around 273 crore saplings in the last nine years. With that, the forest area in the state is spread over 19,854 square kilometers in 2015-16. By 2023, it has increased to 26,969 square kilometers. He said that 24.06 per cent of Telangana’s area is covered by forests.
KTR said that as a result of Haritha Haram programme for Telangana, the forest cover of the state has increased by 7.70 per cent in the Forest Survey of India report.
Along with forests, a programme has been undertaken to develop social forests, parks without distinction between towns and villages. KTR said that in the new Panchayati Raj and Municipal Acts they have introduced an innovative policy called Green Budget. As a result of the government’s efforts, along with one nursery in every village, about 15,000 nurseries, more than 19,400 village nature forests and 2,725 Brihat village nature forests have been established across the state. He said that 180 urban forest parks have been set up extensively in the cities at a cost of Rs 700 crore.
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