About Garhwa South Forest Division

The Garhwa South Forest Division is situated on the Chhota Nagpur plateau of Jharkhand and it is surrounded by Garhwa North Forest Division in North; Sarguja District of Chhattisgarh in South; Garhwa North Forest Division and Sarguja District of Chhatisgarh in the West and Palamu Tiger Reserve and Medininagar Forest Division in the East.
The Forest Land of Garhwa South Forest Division is spread over an area of 86689.18 Ha and it includes 191 villages of Garhwa and Palamau Districts. It stretches between 23o 34’ to 24o 05’ North Latitude and 83o 31’ to 84o 01’ East longitude.
Creation Of Garhwa South Forest Division.

• In the year of 1952, the Government of Bihar has created a separate Garhwa Forest Division by carving out the area from the existing Palamu Forest Division vide Revenue Department’s notification No. C/F-F7011/52-2231-R dated the 23rd May, 1952. At the time of creation of Garhwa Forest Division; the Seven Forests Ranges namely: Bhandaria, Ranka, Garhwa, Chainpur, Bhawanathpur, Chhatarpur and Mohamadganj were under its administrative control.
• In the year of 1961, the two Forest Ranges namely: Chhatarpur and Mohamadganj  of Garhwa Forest Division were transferred to the newly created Daltonganj North Forest Division ( Present day it is known as Medininagar Forest Division) vide Bihar Government Notification No. C/F- 1 (a)-013/61-448-R dated 15th / 20th March 1961.
• In the year of 1962, the Government of Bihar has created a separate Garhwa South Forest Division by carving out the area from the existing Garhwa  Forest Division vide Government Notification No.  C/F-1(a)-044/62-497-R dated 29th March, 1962. At the time of creation of Garhwa South Forest Division; the three Forests Ranges namely: Bhandaria, Ranka and Chainpur were under its administrative control.
• The Government of Bihar vide Revenue Dept. Notification No. C/F-1(A) 36-62/10028 dated 07.06.62 has divided Ranka Forest Range into Ranka East and Ranka West Forest Ranges; and Bhandaria Forest Range  into Bhandaria and Kutku Forest Ranges.
• Nineteen Felling Series (15744.01 Ha.) of Kutku Forest Range were added to the Tiger Project in the Year of 1974 as buffer zone. In the year, 1976 entire 26543.16 Ha. of Bhandria Forest Range and Chapkali Sub-beat (2623.91 hectare) of Ranka West Forest Range were transferred to the Bihar Forest Development Corporation for their management vide Government’s notification no  3816 dated 17-08-76.  In the year of 1982, it was transferred back to the Garhwa South Forest Division from 01.10.1982 vide Bihar Govt. Resolution No. 6/82-597 dated 19.02.82.
• The Dept. of Forest and Environment, Government of Jharkhand by the resolution no. 34/2007 dated 03.03.2008 transferred the Chainpur Forest Range of Garhwa South Forest Division to the Daltonganj North Forest Division.  Thus, at present there are four Forest Ranges namely: Ranka East, Ranka West, Bhandaria and Kutku are under the administrative jurisdiction of Garhwa South Forest Division.
• The administrative jurisdiction of Garhwa South Forest Division extends over an area of 1336.01 Sq. K.M.  and out of this 866.89 Sq. K.M. is a forest land (64.85% of the total area); which is for the purpose of forestry management.

The Division falls in one of the significant wild life corridor of India, which connects the Sanjay National Park in Singrauli District of Madhya Pradesh to Bhimbandh Wild Life Sanctuary in Munger District of Bihar.

The area of the Division is a significant watershed of North Koel and Kanhar River and the area also interlaced with many rivulets, nallas etc.

The area is rich in floral and faunal biodiversity.
Provide the livelihood opportunity through NTFP to the forest dependent community.

Geography and Climate.
India is a mega diverse country. With only 2.4 per cent of the total land area of the world, the known biological diversity of India contributes 8 per cent of the known global biological diversity. In terms of Biogeography, India has been divided into 10 biogeographic zones. The bio-geographical zones are: Trans-Himalayas, Himalayas, Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plain, North-East India, Islands and Coasts. Deccan Plateau is India’s largest biogeographic region making 42 per cent of the total geographical area. This bio-geographic zone of peninsular India is by far the most extensive zone, covering India’s finest forests, particularly in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Jharkhand, Orissa etc. Majority of the forests are deciduous in nature but there are regions of greater biological diversity in the hill ranges. The zone comprising of deciduous forests, thorn forests and degraded scrubland support diverse wildlife species. Entire Jharkhand state including Garhwa South Forest Divison falls in Deccan peninsula biogeographic zone.

LEGAL STATUS OF THE  AREA

With the exception of Barkol R.F.,  Binda and Bhandriya Khalsa Reserved Forests;  other forests of Garhwa South Forest Division were the property of private Landlords till 1946-47. Subsequently, these private forests were managed by the State Government under the provisions of Bihar Private Forests Act, 1946. In 1950’s; the Bihar Land Reforms Act (Act XXX of 1950) came into force and with its implementation these private forests, which were vested with State Government has been notified as Protected Forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. The Range wise number of Protected Forest and Reserve Forest are being summarized herein below in the tabular form:

 In addition to the above forest lands, 20.00 hectares land has been acquired in the Division for the various purposes and is in the physical possession of the department and there is 119.91 Ha Non- Forest Land has been mutated to the Forest Department as a part Compensatory Afforestation in lieu of the forest land diverted for the Non-Forestry purposes.

Tourist Attraction (*)

• Gurusindhu Water Fall in Ranka West Range.
• Van Chetna Kendra, Ranka Kala, Ranka.
• View of Kanhar River at Bargar Block Office.