Jharkhand’s Saranda Forest | 15 Nov 2025

Source: TH 

The Supreme Court of India directed the Jharkhand government to declare 31,468.25 hectares of the Saranda forest area as a wildlife sanctuary. The court reaffirmed that mining is prohibited inside national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, as well as within a one-kilometre buffer from their boundaries. 

• The Court upheld the 1968 erstwhile unified State of Bihar notification declaring the Saranda forest as the “Saranda Game Sanctuary,” which later came under Jharkhand’s jurisdiction after the State’s bifurcation (2000). 

Saranda Forest 

• About: It is the largest Sal forest in Asia, located near Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. The name “Saranda” means “land of seven hundred hills”, spread over around 900 sq. km. 
  • It historically served as the private hunting ground of the royal family of Seraikela. 
  • The Saranda forest division also accounts for 26% of India’s iron ore reserves, making it both ecologically and economically significant. 
• Flora: Dominated by Sal (Shorea robusta), forming one of the most pristine and continuous Sal forests in the world. Other major species include Mahua and Kusum. 
  • Supports diverse deciduous vegetation that maintains water cycles and contributes to carbon sequestration. 
• Fauna: It is the habitat for critically endangered and endemic species, including the sal forest tortoise, four-horned antelope, and Asian palm civet.  
  • The forest is home to endangered species of flying lizards and hundreds of elephants. 
• Tribes: Inhabited by Ho, Munda, Uraon, and allied Adivasi communities. Their livelihoods, culture, and subsistence practices are deeply linked to forest resources.