Explanation:

To its dismal record on protecting the environment, Haryana can now add this — it’s the state with the lowest percentage of its geographical area under forest cover in the country. The 2017 Forest Survey of India (FSI) assessment is a dampener on the state government’s premature declaration of success of its afforestation policy, after the survey showed a negligible 0.02% increase in its forest cover. Environmentalists have called the results of the survey a matter of shame. Punjab, which was earlier the list topper, now has forest cover over 3.65% of its geographical area, compared to Haryana’s 3.59%. Between 2015 and 2017, Punjab managed to increase its the forest cover by 0.13%, while Haryana only managed to clock 0.02%.Moreover, Haryana has only 1,588 sq km of forest, the lowest among all Indian states. Some union territories that have lesser forest area than Haryana still maintain better percentage of their geographical area under forest cover. Compared to Punjab, there is more very dense forest (canopy density of 70% and above) and open forest (canopy density between 10-40%) in Haryana, while its moderately dense forest (canopy density between 40-70%) is 40% lower than that of Punjab.