Bokaro

Spread over an area of 543.933 sq kms, Bokaro Forest Division is situated entirely within the Bokaro District in eastern Jharkhand. The division created in 1997 by carving out forests that were then under Dhanbad, Hazaribagh East and Giridih Forest Divisions. Prior to independence, the forests of Bokaro were part of the Ramgarh Raj. The forests of Bokaro Division are part of the Chota Nagpur plateau and geographically can be sub-divided into the following categories:

1. Central Plateau
2. Lower Plateau
3. Damodar, Ganga and Tenughat valley

Geologically, the forests of Bokaro Division are part of two systems:

1. Central Plateau
2. Archeans (covering the central and southern portions of the district, and division)
3. Gondwana (covering the Damodar valley)

Administratively, the forests of Bokaro Division are split into 6 Forest Ranges:

1. Petarwar (119.01 sq kms)
2. Gomia (71.42 sq kms)
3. Tenughat (80.21 sq kms)
4. Bermo (150.89 sq kms)
5. Bokaro (74.32 sq kms)
6. Chas (48.09 sq kms)

Headquartered in Bokaro Steel City, and covering more than 20% of the total area of Bokaro District, the forests of Bokaro Division are drained by the Damodar, Bokaro, Konar and Barakar rivers. The forests of Bokaro are basically the eastern edge of the Hazaribagh plateau and thus spread over a largely hilly topography dotted with sever prominent hills, and occasional plateau and graded valley tracts.

With a sub-tropical and humid climate, Bokaro Division is characterised by hot and dry summer from March to October and cold winter from November to February. The average annual rain fall is 1363.57mm.

The forests of Bokaro Forest Division broadly conform to Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest and may be classified as 5-B as per Champion and Seth (1968) classification. According to the classification of forest types of India, the forests of Bokaro Division fall into the following sub-types:

1. Dry Penisular sal forest
2. Northern dry mixed deciduous forests - 5B/C- 2 type
3. Scrub/ degraded forests

Most of the forests of the Division is composed of the former type, and situated along the northern aspects and in the valley of hills and on slopes.

Patches of pure Sal crops in sapling to young pole stage are found in Chas and Chandankiyari. Large size trees in the remote hills belong mainly to Mahua, Kusum and Palas. Khair is generally scattered on the lower slopes of hilly tracts & eroded lands of both Sal and Miscellaneous Forest. The primary associate species found in the Sal forests of Bokaro Division are Terminalia tomentosa, Madhuca indica, Pterocarpus marsupium, Adina cordifolia, Diospyros melanozylon, Terminalia chebula, Buchnania lanzan, Semicarpus anacardiurn, along with occasional bamboo brakes. Miscellaneous forests, situated on the warmer aspects and comparatively drier localities such as hill slopes and hill tops, have Boswellia serrata, Anogeissus latifolia, Lagerstoemia parviflora, Diospyros tomentosa, Pterocarpus marsupium, Adina cordifolia, Mitragyna parviflora, Buchnanialanz.an, Sterculia urens, Cochlospermum religiosum, Madhuca indica, Emblica officinales,Aegle marmelos and Lagerstroemia parviflora. The forests are moderately stocked and interspersed with open patches where soil erosion is common.

These forests were rich in wildlife at the turn of the 20^th century, within the next few decades large mammalian fauna was wiped off due to rampant hunting and habitat loss. Birdlife is rich in these forests. A detailed checklist of birds, mammals, fishes, and reptiles of Bokaro Forest Division may be found in the Working Plan of the Division.