Principales Mercados

This report is prepared for Ecology and Biodiversity study of project site and buffer zone of Sundaram Steel Pvt Ltd., at Village Balidih, District Bokaro, Jharkhand. Jharkhand is located in eastern India and is surrounded by Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. The state covers a geographical area of 79.70 Lakhs ha. Many parts of the Jharkhand state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau. This plateau is the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand.

Much of the state is still covered by forest. Forest reserves support the population of many wild lives. Soil content of Jharkhand state mainly consist

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of soil formed from disintegration of rocks and stones, and soil composition is further divided into: Red soil, Micaceous soil, Sandy soil, Black soil and Laterite soil. The district Bokaro is major industrial centre and situated in the eastern part of the Jharkhand state. It is bounded in the north by the Giridih district, in the east by Dhanbad, in the south by Purulia District of West Bangal State and in the west by Hazaribagh district. The district is situated between 23.29°N latitude and 86.09°E longitude. Bokaro is major industrial centre and one of the important revenue-earning districts of the State.

Physiography, Geology and Drainage

Major part of the district is highly undulating and hilly all over the district. The regional slope of the district is towards east and controlled the alignment of the tributaries of Damodar River. The hill ranges trending WNW–ESE. The average elevation of the undulating pedi plain ranges from 200–350m above MSL. The highest hill prominent block is Gomia. The northern and western part of the district is having hilly ranges. Chas and Chandankiyari are low upland where cultivation is practiced. The proposed site falls under the Survey of India Toposheet No. 73/1, 73/2 & 73 E/14.

Climate

The climate of Bokaro district is humid and sub tropical. It is characterized by hot and dry summer from March to October and cold winter from November to February. Humidity is high from July to September. The mean annual humidity is nearly 60%. In summer the temperature rises to 42o _{– 46}o

An average rainfall of the district is 1363.57mm. Each block has a rain gauge station. The maximum rainfall is 1669.58mm in Chandan Kiyari Block and minimum in Bermo block (1093.70mm). The normal rainfall of the district is

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1185mm. The maximum rainfall occurs during the monsoon months viz mid June to mid of October.

Soil

The soils of Bokaro district can be broadly grouped into the soil developed in different formations like Granite or Granite Gneiss of Archean age, sandstone and shales of Gondwana Formation and Alluvial Plain.

Texturally the soils of Bokaro district have been classified into four classes as:- a) Stony and Gravelly: These are low grade soils having an admixture of cobbles, pebbles and gravels, generally found at the base of the hills.

b) Sandy Soils: It is found near the stream beds containing 60% sand and is easily drained. This is poor in respect of fertility and requires heavy manuring. c) Loamy Soils: These consist mostly of detritus of decomposed rocks and vegetable matter. It is suitable for cultivation. Normally these are found in valleys near the hills.

d) Clayey Soils: These soils are found near tank beds. These are sticky soils. Their water bearing capacity is very high. The area is very fertile but crop yielding capacity improved with addition of sand, lime and organic manures etc.

3.9.3 Forests

The industry comes under district Bokaro administration. The Forest cover (under Bokaro forest division) in the district, based on interpretation of satellite data of November 2008- January 2009, is 560 Km2 _{which is 29.03 % of the} district’s geographical area (i.e. 1,929 Km2_{). In terms of forest canopy density} classes, the state has only 64 Km2 _{area under very dense forest, 244 Km}2 _area

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under moderately dense forest and 252 Km2 _{area under open forest whereas} only 48 Km2 _{area under scrub. The forest cover of the state is shown in below} Table 3.21.

Table 3.21: Forest Cover of District-Bokaro as compared with Jharkhand (Area in Km2

Name of Area

) Geograph

ical Area Dense Very Forest

Mod. Dense Forest

Open

Forest Total Percent of GA Change Scrub

Bokaro 1,929 64 244 252 560 29.03 0 48

Jharkhand 79,714 2,590 9,917 10,470 22,977 28.82 83 683 (Source: India state of forest report 2013-Jharkhand)

Table 3.22: Land use Pattern of Study Area

Land Use Area in ha Percentage

Total geographical area 31415.00 100.00

River 241.99 0.77

River with Dry Channel 532.86 1.70

Water Bodies 922.50 2.94

Settlement 2156.16 6.86

Open Land 4492.34 14.30

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Vegetation 97.02 0.31

Forests 1309.29 4.17

Agriculture 21566.02 68.65

Source: GRC-India, Noida

The state has five forest types which belong to two forest type groups, viz. Tropical Moist Deciduous and Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests.

The major area of buffer comprises of agricultural land 68.65 % followed by 14.30 % open land. There is only 4.17 % forest area found in the study area. It consists of open jungle, open mixed jungle and fairly mixed jungle in periphery of 10 km at direction of North, North-East and East direction (Table 3.22). There are no National Parks, Sanctuary or ecologically sensitive areas within the 10 km periphery of the industrial lease area. Due to high temperature and humidity the area comprises of tropical moist deciduous vegetation. No wildlife protected area declared protected under “Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972”is located within 10 km radius of the proposed mining area.

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Fig 3.7: Land Use pattern of the study area (10 Km Radius)