The area of Hazaribag East Forest Division is 64222.02 ha. which comprises of Sadar block (part), Churchu block (part), Daru block (part), Bishungarh block, Tatijharia block (part) of Hazaribag District, Mandu block (part) of Ramgarh District, Bagodar block and Saria block of Giridih District & Gomia block (part) of Bokaro District.
This Division is bounded by Koderma district in the north, Ranchi district in the south, Giridih & Bokaro districts in the east. After bifurcation, the jurisdiction of Hazaribag East Forest Division, consists of three Ranges viz. Daru Forest Range, Bagodar Forest Range & Gomia (Chatrochatti) and one Overlapping Range, Bagodar Afforestation Range.
Assets
1. Forest Rest Houses : Hazaribag East Forest Division have a 03 (three) Forest Rest Houses namely Canary FRH in Hazaribag district, Saria FRH in Giridih district & Jarkunda FRH in Bokaro district.
2. Nursery : Hazaribag East Forest Division have a 04 (Four) Permanent Nursery namely Meru & Nawada permanent nursery in Hazaribag district, Karamba & Mandramo permanent nursery in Giridih district.
3. Range Office : The jurisdiction of Hazaribag East Forest Division, consists of 03 (three) territorial Ranges viz. Daru Forest Range, Bagodar Forest Range & Gomia (Chatrochatti) and one Overlapping Range, Bagodar Afforestation Range.
4. Beat Office : The jurisdiction of Hazaribag East Forest Division, consists of 08 (Eight) Forest Beat Office viz. Canary East, Canary West, Ango, Tatijharia, Bishungarh, Bagodar, Saria & Chatrochatti beat offices.
5. Sub-beat : The jurisdiction of Hazaribag East Forest Division, consists of 61 (Sixty One) Sub Beat in Daru Forest Range, Bagodar Forest Range & Gomia Forest Range
Communication
Airport : The airport is located at Ranchi which is about 110 kms. from the farthest point of Hazaribag District. Ranchi Airport has direct air connectivity with Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
Rail : There is Saria (Hazaribag Road) railway station are available in the jurisdiction of Division and Nearest Railway station Hazaribag, Barkakana & Koderma are also available.
Road : Cities/Towns as well as most of the villages in the central and western parts of the district are linked by national/state highways, district roads. The major highways passing through Hazaribag are the Ranchi-Patna (NH-33) Highway and Aurangabad to Barwadda (NH-2) Highway road.
Bio-diversity
The forests of this division is well known for its floral and faunal diversity. The areas like Daru & Bagodar Forest Range have been the treasures of wild fauna. A wide variety of herbivores inhabitated these forests. Locals says that Hunting of these animals has been the major cause for reduction in the herbivore population. The degradation of habitat conditions are mainly due to depletion of natural habitats and heavy grazing pressure, loss of natural regeneration capacity and forest fires. These issues have marginalized the faunal populations and many of the major species became extinct. The area had been extremely rich in faunal population and even today exhibits richness in faunal diversity.
Ecotourim Sites
The assessment of the tourist potential for developing quality facilities for activities including camping, trekking, bird watching, rock climbing, water sports, botanization, nature interpretation, traditional handicrafts, arts – painting, dance, ethnic cuisine, tribal culture, suitable guides, signage's, night stay, security etc in the potential areas will boost the eco-tourism. It will help in associating the local people with forest protection and earning of livelihood for them.
1. Canary Hill : Canary Hill is one of the major tourist attractions in the Hazaribag City and this place is surrounded by the dense forests. It is situated in the district of Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. The Canary Hill is located about 05 km from Hazaribag Town. The best place to visit in Hazaribag. Canary (Kanhari) hill is situated around 2019 feet above sea level. The hill has two viewpoints from which one can admire the nature's beauty. The first viewpoint is located beside the Canary Hill Forest Rest House. The road to the Forest Rest House is motorable and so one does not have to climb to reach the viewpoint. The other viewpoint is also located on the top of the hill. To reach the second viewpoint one will have to climb up the hill with help of the stairs which is provided from the base of the hill. The view from the second viewpoint is much more beautiful than the first viewpoint. One can see the surrounding forest though little and the Hazaribag Town and some hill far away.
2. Dudhmatiya : This site is famously associated with Forest Conservation activity called Vriksh Raksha Bandhan. It is in this Protected Forest the unique conservation practice took shape under the leadership of Shri Mahadeo Mahto and others along with officials of Hazaribag East Forest Division on 7th October, 1995. On this same (Oct-7th) day every year people assemble in this forest to tie Rakshasutra on trees in this forest and they pledge and pray for the protection and conservation of this forest. Dudhmatiya Vriksh Rakshabandhan site become a role model for other people to follow and conserve forest by means of Rakshabandhan. Today around 52 such forests are protected and conserved by means of this tradition following the principle of people's participation.
Dudhmatiya forest is about 25km from Hazaribag Town of Jharkhand State, India. To achieve maximum success and cen percent active participation of all sections of villagers, a series of meetings were held by the activists of Vanya Prani Suraksha Samiti, Berho and villagers of nearby villages and local forest officials as well. It was decided that students and teachers of nearby villages schools will also participate in the Tree Raksha Bandhan through rallies, folk dances, fold song, dram, cultural programmes and other cultural activities like exhibition, song, slogan etc to motivate them.
On 7th October at 6am in the morning all sections of villages led by Shri Mahadev Mahtro and other activists of Vanya Prani Suraksha Samiti, Berho and local forest officials reaches Dudhmatiya Forest and they worship Van Devi (Nature Godess) by offering "Prasad" and lighting "Deep" and chanting mantras and dev.otional songs for Van Devi and lastly tieing Rakhi made of one inch width and one and half feet long new red cloth strips or red ribbons. After tieing, each and every person present there sit near the tree and do meditation (Maun Dharna). They meditate and resolve that they will take all efforts to protect forest (Flora & Fauna) of this place and request nature God to protect it from natural calamities. This continues upto 9:30 am in the morning followed by speeches, folk song, dances, cultural programmes etc to make the villagers more and more aware, regarding the benefits of protection of forest and wildlife. During these celebrations, local people take pledge that they will protect the trees and expect nature God to protect them (human beings) in return
3. Bhelwara Reserved Forest : Bhelwara is the name of a Village in Bishnugarh Block in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand State, India. It is located 35 KM towards East from District head quarters Hazaribagh and 9 KM from Bishnugarh.
As a result of the villagers' seriousness towards the forest conservation, Bhelwara forest is still remain a cynosure for the people who visit that area. Bhelwara forest of Bishnugarh gives shelter to many wildlife. This reserve forest have many water sources which quenches thirst of wildlives during summer months. Inside the forest there is a permanent water source (aquifer), locally people call it "Pathalchuan".
The cold water that comes out of the middle of the stone of "Pathalchuan" in the forest is consumed by the wildlife, as well as by the villagers. No person who reaches the spot is able to stop himself/ herself from drinking the water coming out of the stone. The source of this water has taken the shape of the Jamuniyam river, therefore the origin of the Jamunia river is said to be the Bhelwara forest. Many wildlife including deer, wolf, fox, hyena, rabbits etc are seen in this forest. Bhelwara forest spread over 4089 acres, there are around170 timber species and medicinal plants including Sal, Mahua, Kendu, Salai, Mango Jamun, Asan, Ber, Bhelwa, Harra, Behera etc.
4. Konar Dam : Konar Dam is 41km away from Hazaribag Town. It is a picnic spot for the urban population of the state of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The Konar Dam is a huge reservoir constructed on the river Konar providing picturesque view of the surrounding landscape. Smooth roads lead to this reservoir that can be reached by Jeeps and buses. The dam is one of the major tourist attractions in Hazaribagh district in the state of Jharkhand. Konar Dam is visited by people in large numbers from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal during the winter months. It is one of the best picnic spots in Jharkhand.
5. Chandro Waterfall : Chandro Waterfall is in Bishungarh which is 40km away from Hazaribag Town. Chandro Waterfall which falls from the Konar river is an attractive beauty spot in the middle of forest area. Chandro waterfall and its surroundings are totally green with a rich environment and beautiful sceneries of mountains and streams.
6. Baudha Dam : Baudha Dam is situated in Tatijharia Block of Hazaribagh District in Jharkhand State, India. It comes under Baudha Panchayath. It is located 31 KM towards East from District head quarters Hazaribagh. Thousands of people come here to picnic. The natural beauty of Boudha Dam attracts many people from surrounding areas. The number of tourists visiting this beautiful place keeps on increasing every year. The Boudha Dam was built in 1975-80 by DVC. The canal and the Arghwa river originate from the dam and reach many small villages through forests. This dam is mainly used for irregation purpose. Due to this dam, the fields of Baudha and Daharbhanga township are always green. This dam is alway visited by Migratory birds during winter months.
7. Bahoranpur : It has been declared as a major Buddhist site after it was examined by the archaeological Survey of India. Pottery, clay pipes and stone deities were excavated here and it shows signs of early human inhabitation. There are signs of a Buddhist civilization buried in the soil of Bahoranpur, situated at the foothills of Sitagarha hill in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. Remnants of archaeologically significant of Pala dynasty are being found in the excavations started here from 27 November 2019. Experts believe that this route, from Puri in Orissa, connects Itkhori and Bodh Gaya. This site might have been an important place of worship for Buddhist monks.
Important Hills
1. Sitagarha Hill : This hill is a famous spot for sighting of various endangered vulture species like Gyps bengalensis, Egyptian Vulture, Indian Vulture & Himalayan Griffon. It is a very good place to have vulture sightings Sitagarha Hill is located 15 km from Hazaribagh and is in the village of Bahoranpur.
2. Silwar Hill : Silwar hill, previously known as tower hills has a historical signalling tower on the top of built by the Britishers. The nearby Jagarnath Hill has a temple dedicated to lord Jagarnath. These hills are located on the old route of Kolkata to Mugalsarai (also called old GT Road) and through this route this route British army troops and the traders used to move from Kolkata to Delhi.
Rivers
Hazaribag East Forest Division has a wide array of many small streams and waterfalls which merge together to from rivers. Being a plateau region, the rocky landscape is quite prevalent. Many streams originating from this plateau erode and cut hard rocks to form waterfalls. In this region, the rivers are generally full of water for about eight months, from July to February. Rest of the times, either these are dry or with little amount of water. To cope us with such situation, Forest Department has constructed many check dams at various places to allow water to accumulate. The rivers of this area flow through various rock formation. These rocks are mostly granites and are considered one of the oldest rocks on earth. Due to the interplay between rocks and rivers, unique landscape are created. Due to these this interplay old rocks, these rivers appear nostalgic, as if we are witnessing a sight from a different planet altogether.
1. Lara River : Lara is a small plateau river near Hazaribag Town and Sitagarha Hill. There is presence of marble rocks along its bank. The famous Griesen Bridge made for British troops is also on this beautiful river. The Dancing Sal Forest on the Hazaribag- Churchu road near Lara River is an attractive place to visit.
2. Konar River : Konar river is one of the main rivers of this division. It has got its present form two other rivers, Sewane and Lara. The famous Konar Dam over the river is one of the oldest dams of Jharkhand.
3. Sewane River : Sewane River is another prominent river flowing through in almost middle of the division. The river basin is surrounded by old formation of rocks and granites. It is considered as one the best example of plateau river.