According to Forest Survey Report-2021, which of the following district has the highest percentage of forest cover (percentage of forest cover to total geographical area of the district) in Uttarakhand?
- (a)Almora
- (b)Rudraprayag
- (c)Dehradun
- (d)Tehri Garhwal
Correct — B, Rudraprayag.
ISFR 2021 puts Rudraprayag at 57.58 per cent: 1,142.30 sq km of forest cover on a geographical area of 1,984 sq km. Tehri Garhwal follows at 56.68, Almora at 54.70 and Dehradun at 52.19, so Rudraprayag leads the four options by under one percentage point.
Rudraprayag has the least forest by area of the four, and the second-smallest geographical area in the state, yet the highest share. A percentage question rewards a small, well-wooded district, not a big one, which is the idea to carry into every forest-cover item.
Note what the stem does not ask: the state's top district.
Nainital leads Uttarakhand at 71.62 per cent, with Champawat at 69.32 and Pauri Garhwal at 63.74, but none of them is offered, so the answer is the highest among the four names printed.
- (a)Almora — Almora stands at 54.70 per cent (1,719.80 sq km on 3,144), third of the four.
Its very dense forest is 199.09 sq km, the smallest of the four options, so Almora is the right answer to which of these four districts has the least very dense forest, not to which has the highest share.
- (c)Dehradun — Dehradun is the lowest of the four at 52.19 per cent (1,611.58 sq km on 3,088).
It does hold 663.25 sq km of very dense forest, second in the state after Nainital, and it gained 2.89 sq km since 2019, so it is the right answer to which of these four districts has the most very dense forest.
- (d)Tehri Garhwal — Tehri Garhwal is the runner-up at 56.68 per cent, 0.90 points behind. By area it beats Rudraprayag comfortably, 2,064.39 sq km against 1,142.30, so it is the right answer to which of these four districts has the largest forest cover in square kilometres.
Unlike the other three, its cover fell (by 1.59 sq km) between the 2019 and 2021 assessments.
Forest cover, as the Forest Survey of India defines it, is every patch of at least one hectare with tree canopy density above 10 per cent, whatever its ownership or legal status.
It is split into very dense (canopy 70 per cent and above), moderately dense (40 to 70) and open forest (10 to 40).
Scrub, degraded land with canopy below 10 per cent, is reported separately and is not forest cover. Expressing cover as a percentage of a district's geographical area removes the effect of size, so a small hill district can outrank a large one that has more forest in absolute terms.
The India State of Forest Report is a biennial assessment by the Forest Survey of India, headquartered in Dehradun.
ISFR 2021, released in January 2022, gives Uttarakhand 24,305.13 sq km of forest cover, 45.44 per cent of its 53,483 sq km, about double the national share of 21.71 per cent.
Within the state the share ranges from 71.62 per cent in Nainital to 16.84 in Udham Singh Nagar, and the plains districts of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar sit below the hill districts.
District-level questions test whether you separate the share from the area and read the report year in the stem.
- ISFR 2021: Rudraprayag has 1,142.30 sq km of forest cover on 1,984 sq km of geographical area, 57.58 per cent.
- ISFR 2021: Tehri Garhwal 56.68 per cent (2,064.39 sq km), Almora 54.70 per cent (1,719.80 sq km), Dehradun 52.19 per cent (1,611.58 sq km).
- ISFR 2021: Nainital has the state's highest share at 71.62 per cent, followed by Champawat 69.32 and Pauri Garhwal 63.74.
- ISFR 2021: Pauri Garhwal has the largest forest cover by area, 3,396.71 sq km; Nainital (3,044.49) and Uttarkashi (3,036.15) come next.
- ISFR 2021: Udham Singh Nagar has the lowest share, 16.84 per cent, then Haridwar at 24.74 per cent.
- ISFR 2021: Uttarakhand's forest cover is 24,305.13 sq km, 45.44 per cent of its geographical area, up 2.09 sq km on ISFR 2019.
- India's forest cover in ISFR 2021 is 7,13,789 sq km, 21.71 per cent of the country's geographical area.
- ISFR 2019 had the same order for these four: Rudraprayag 57.57, Tehri Garhwal 56.73, Almora 54.68, Dehradun 52.09 per cent.
- ISFR 2023 changes the order: Tehri Garhwal (61.03 per cent) overtakes Rudraprayag (57.79), and Champawat (69.06) edges Nainital (67.43).
- The Forest Survey of India, which publishes the ISFR every two years, is headquartered in Dehradun.
Forest cover divided by each district's geographical area, ISFR 2021. Rudraprayag has the least forest by area among the four options yet the highest share; Nainital tops the state but is not among the options.
- Reading 'highest percentage' as 'largest area': Tehri Garhwal has 2,064 sq km to Rudraprayag's 1,142, but the smaller district has the higher share.
- Jumping to the state's top district: Nainital leads at 71.62 per cent but is not among the options, so the answer must be the best of the four printed.
- Ignoring the report year: by ISFR 2023 Tehri Garhwal (61.03 per cent) overtakes Rudraprayag (57.79), so an answer taken from the newer report loses this mark.
- Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal are 0.90 points apart; a rounded memory of 'about 57 per cent' for both does not separate them, so anchor the pair as 57.58 versus 56.68.
The stem names the report and the year, then asks for a superlative among four districts: highest or lowest share, or largest area.
The metric word, 'percentage' or 'area', decides the answer, and the two metrics produce different winners in Uttarakhand.
Variants ask the state's own figure (45.44 per cent), the top-ranked district (Nainital in ISFR 2021), or set the same question at state level, where Mizoram leads by share and Madhya Pradesh by area.
UKPSC_2024_PRE_GSI_Q652024Same paper and same measure (forest-cover share of district area in Uttarakhand), different option set: there Nainital, the state's highest at 71.62 per cent, is offered and wins; here it is absent and Rudraprayag leads the four printed.
NDA_GAT_2025_I_Q1022025Same report and same percentage measure, but at state level among Himalayan states: Arunachal Pradesh (79.33 per cent) wins and Uttarakhand (45.44) is a distractor; the district ranking inside Uttarakhand is not touched.
NDA_GAT_2022_I_Q1462022Same report, opposite metric: it asks for the largest forest cover by area, which Madhya Pradesh holds. The area-versus-percentage distinction that makes Tehri Garhwal a distractor here is the whole point of that item.
MPPSC_2025_PRE_PaperI_Q112025District-level forest-cover percentage from ISFR 2021, as here, but for Madhya Pradesh and at the low end (below 10 per cent) rather than the top; the reading skill is identical, the data set is a different state.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, which district of Uttarakhand has the largest forest cover by area (in sq km)?
- (a)Nainital
- (b)Pauri Garhwal
- (c)Uttarkashi
- (d)Chamoli
Answerb — Pauri Garhwal has 3,396.71 sq km, the largest in the state.Nainital (3,044.49) has the highest share but not the largest area, Uttarkashi (3,036.15) is a close third, and Chamoli (2,710.11) is fourth.
- practice — not a real PYQ
As per ISFR 2021, which district of Uttarakhand has the lowest percentage of forest cover to its total geographical area?
- (a)Haridwar
- (b)Udham Singh Nagar
- (c)Pithoragarh
- (d)Chamoli
Answerb — Udham Singh Nagar, at 16.84 per cent.Haridwar is next lowest at 24.74, then Pithoragarh at 29.35 and Chamoli at 33.75; the two large high-Himalayan districts have modest shares because much of their area lies above the tree line.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to ISFR 2021, forest cover as a percentage of the total geographical area of Uttarakhand is:
- (a)21.71 %
- (b)45.44 %
- (c)79.33 %
- (d)84.53 %
Answerb — 45.44 per cent (24,305.13 sq km of 53,483).21.71 is India's national share, 79.33 is Arunachal Pradesh, and 84.53 is Mizoram, the highest share among the states.
- practice — not a real PYQ
With reference to ISFR 2021 figures for Uttarakhand, consider the following statements: 1. Nainital has the highest percentage of forest cover among the districts. 2. Pauri Garhwal has the largest forest cover by area. 3. Rudraprayag's percentage of forest cover is higher than Tehri Garhwal's. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Answerd — all three hold in ISFR 2021: Nainital 71.62 per cent, Pauri Garhwal 3,396.71 sq km, and Rudraprayag 57.58 against Tehri Garhwal 56.68.Each of the other options drops a true statement. Statement 3 would fail on ISFR 2023 figures, which is why the year matters.