By saryu rai
MLA, Jamshedpur West
A ray of hope for Saranda wildlife sanctuary has emerged out of the Appex court verdict yesterday towards fulfilment of long time demand in this connection. The Supreme Court on October 8, 2025 directed the Jharkhand government to declare an area of 314.86 square kilometre in Saranda forest division Of jharkhand as wildlife sanctuary.
The dense forest area of the Saranda forest division is fast emerging as a zone of conflict between the forces in favour of extensive mining in the name of development and the conservationists in favour of sustainable mining as well as protection of its rich biodiversity in the form of precious gift of nature.
The Saranda forest division consists of unique Sal forests on the surface termed as green steel and side by side it is credited to have rich and rare stock of the best quality of hematite iron ore and manganese beneath the subsurface termed as grey steel.
Since the time in 1906 mining of iron ore in Saranda began with a view to produce various shades of iron and steel this conflict came to the fore and in due course of time process of resolution of the conflict too began side by side.
A well thought step to resolve this conflict in larger public interest the then govt. of erstwhile Bihar as back as in 1968 decided to notify an area of about 31468.25 hectares (314.6825 sq kilometers) of Saranda as a game sanctuary vide notification no.
1168F dated 16th February 1968. This notification finds place in working plan 1975-76 to 1995-96 of Saranda also but the notification later on was kept in abeyance for long time and is now said to be lost from the files and archives of the state government. The result is that unplanned and unmindful iron ore extraction in Saranda continued unabated which took alarming proportion in initial years of the present century. It seemed entire mining industry is bent upon to extract every ounce of iron ore beneath Saranda subsurface and an unscrupulous rat race competition began to acquire mining leases on every inch of Saranda.
In historical perspective emphasis on conservation of wildlife in the Saranda forest division can be traced from 1936 when Mr. H.F. Mooney, then working plan officer for Bihar and Orissa (who prepared the working plan for Saranda forest for the period of 1936-37 to 1955-56) provided detail features of Karampada Plateau under the Saranda forest division. He specifically mentioned that a portion comprising compartments 31-36 of Karampada Reserve Forest Block spread over 4830 acres (1954.632 hectares) would make a fine sanctuary dedicated to the preservation of fauna and flora of this interesting area.”
Another working plan officer Mr. J N Sinha for Southern circle who prepared Saranda working plan for the period 1956-57 to 1975-76 mentioned that “the Sasangda plateau which is part of Karampada Reserve Forests is at present maintained as a sanctuary and should continue. He also recommended formation of another sanctuary consisting of Gundijorn abandoned village site in compartment number 15-16 of Tholkabad Reserve Forest at the centre of Saranda. The Sasangda plateau is in fact a subset of Karampada plateau under Karampada Reserve Forest Block currently under administrative control of Sasangda Range of the Saranda forest division.
Besides the Saranda working plan for 1975-76 to 1995-96 prepared by Mr. K.S. Rajhans clearly mentions about existence of Sasangda Game Sanctuary spread over an area 31,468 ha (314.6825 sq. kms.). It was notified on February 16,1968 by the then government of Bihar vide notification no. 1168F. This working plan also indicates that “Sasangda game sanctuary is badly disturbed after opening of Kiriburu iron ore mining project in 1964 and opening of Meghahatuburu iron ore mines later on” and would further accelerate disturbances before habitat of wild animals. Later in 2001 on September 26 vide Letter no. Vanyaprani-33/3640 the government of newly born state of Jharkhand declared “Singhbhum Elephant Reserve” comprising of entire area of Saranda Forest Division as its core zone.
As a glaring example of rich biodiversity of this region the recent study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) catalogued 79 plant species from 40 families, 23 mammals (12 of which fall under Schedule- I of the Wildlife Protection Act), 138 bird species, 27 reptiles and amphibians, and 32 butterfly species. Noteworthy inhabitants amongst include Mouse Deer, Sal Forest Tortoise, Chousingha, and the Palecapped Pigeon. This forest region also serves as a vital wildlife corridor between Jharkhand and Odisha. Irony of the fact is that inspite of having such a rich biodiversity, none of the forest officer posted in Saranda forest division since 1980 took pains to do the needful to protect the sanctity of the Game Sanctuary under Saranda which finds mention in the previous working plans of Saranda forest division, despite clear deemed sanctuary provision in section 66 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Though on May 26, 1988 an attached officer wrote a letter to the then Saranda DFO for notification of Saranda Game sanctuary under this Act but no records are available to track any further action taken in this regard.
The Supreme Court order in fact is fall out of consistent efforts of environmentalist and wildlife activists including myself. It was brought to my knowledge a few years ago that the then govt of Bihar has issued specific notification in 1968 and declared about 431 sq kilometer of forest land in Saranda as wildlife sanctuary. I queried about it in forest department but was told that the said notification is not available. Afterwards I asked questions on the floor of state assembly. First time I raised the question on the floor of Jharkhand state assembly on March2, 2021, then on March 21, 2023, again on February 27,, 2024 and lastly on March 25, 2025. In reply to my questions the state govt was all the time evasive and did not agree to my request that if the 1968 Saranda sanctuary notification is lost from department files then let the notification be issued afresh in present circumstances. The govt in fact was reluctant.
Meanwhile a noted wildlife activist Dr R K singh on July 6, 2020. In the petition he prayed before NGT to declare Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Saranda Game Sanctuary by considering it as deemed sanctuary. NGT’s appropriate order came in 2022 but the state govt. failed to carry out its direction upto 2024.
Afterwards another renowned conservationist of palamu in Jharkhand Dr. D.S. Srivastava in consultation with Dr. R K Singh moved to Supreme Court for final adjudication in this matter. He filed an Interlocutory Application (IA) in the path breaking famous Civil writ petition of 1995 widely known as T.N. Godvarman vs Union of India before the Supreme Court of India.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court keeping in view the merit in the Interlocutory Applications of Dr. Shriwastava admitted it and directed the state of Jharkhand to file an affidavit explaining the reasons as to why the State did not take appropriate steps to implement the directions issued by the learned NGT on 12th July 2022. In its reasoned order dated November 20, 2024 the Supreme Court judges in no uncertain terms opined that the State is not serious to implement NGT order and on 8 October 2025 passed appropriate order and directed the Jharkhand government to notify 413.68 sq kilometre area of Saranda as wildlife sanctuary for protection of wildlife and natural resources. This order of the Appex Court raised hope of notification of Saranda sanctuary consisting of reserved and protected areas of sasangdaburu area of Karampada section of pristine Saranda forest.