A preliminary report on Plant Diversity Assessment in selected forest villages of Gaya district, Bihar & Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand For Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. A Govt. of India (Ministry of Railways) Enterprise By Government of India Botanical Survey of India Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change CGO Complex, Salt Lake City Kolkata - 700 064, West Bengal, India A preliminary report on Plant Diversity Assessment in selected forest villages of Gaya district, Bihar & Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand For Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. A Govt. of India (Ministry of Railways) Enterprise Field Survey and Documentation Team Dr. Basant Kumar Singh & Sri Anand Kumar By Government of India Botanical Survey of India Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change CGO Complex, Salt Lake City Kolkata - 700 064, West Bengal, India *lTCc! 7TW 5R @ e ! T O ) Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. itee tblfteY? A Ctont. si India (Ministry of Railways} Enltrprisa No.HQ/SEMU/EC/Forest/Koderma detour /2015 Dated: 06.01.2016 Director, Botanical Survey of India, CGO Complex, 3rd Floor, MSO Building Block-F (S1*1 & 6th Floor), DF Block, Sector-? Sait Lake City, Kolkata-700064 Sub: Biodiversity Assessment of “Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary” in Hazaribagh and Gaya District. As you may be aware that Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle set up under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors. The Eastern Corridor, starting from Ludhiana in Punjab will pass through the state of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal. Work in Kanpur -- Khurja - Mughaisarai - Sonnagar section has already started. The progress of work is monitored regularly upto the level of PMO. Approx 15 km of the proposed Koderma detour under the Eastern Dedicated Freight Project in Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) district (viilages Menukhar, Garmorwa, Bukar and Khairataand) and Gaya (Bihar) district (villages Mcrchak, Dibcbasera, Same, Jhurang, Harakurha, Regaini, Tegaini Bagai, Tuntiu, Taro, Rui dhamna, Aiaxhaina and Kathotiya Kewai) is passing though core area and buffer zone of the “Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary". For the submission of Wildlife proposal of the project, DFCCIL needs to enclose the "Biodiversity Assessment Report" of the "Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary" of the above mentioned villages. The details of the villages under sanctuary are enclosed herewith. It is assured that the Biodiversity Assessment, report and other information provided by your esteem institution will not be used anywhere except for the submission of the wildlife proposal, it will not be reproduced or published in other research publication. DFCCIL is a time bound national project of Ministry of Railways and is listed in the priority agenda of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Office. Therefore, it is requested to prepare the Biodiversity Assessment report of the "Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary” at earliest. The required charges, if any for the preparation of Biodiversity Assessment report may kindly be intimated. DA: As above (Mukesh Kumar Jain} General Manager/LA & SEMU/EC Copy to : Chief Project Manager/Kolkata, 18/N (Ground Floor, Block A, New Aiipore, Kolkata - 700053 (email - [email protected]. Mob -1)9007041120). Rsgd. & Corporate Office : 5th FSoor, Prayati Maidan Metro Station Building Complex, New Daihi-110001 Tel.: +91-11-23454700, Fax: 011-23454701, W eb:www.dfcdl.gov.in CIN : U 60232Dl.2008<301155068 1. Introduction Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) is undertaking planning, development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Eastern Corridor, starting from Ludhiana in Punjab and will pass through the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and terminate at Dankuni, West Bengal covering total distance of 1856 km. Out of 1856 km, total distance of 239 km will pass through Bihar and of 196 km will pass through Jharkhand. It is a projected to cater to a number of traffic streams — coal for the power plants in the northern region of U.P., Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and parts of Rajasthan from the Eastern coal fields; finished steel, food grains, cement, fertilizers, lime stone from Rajasthan to steel plants in the east and general goods (http://www.dfccil.gov.in/ dfccil_app/Eastern_Corridor. jsp). The Biodiversity Assessment (particularly in Flora parts) of 17 forest villages lying inside and around the Gautam Buddha Wildlife Sanctuary (GBWLS) where the Eastern Corridor will pass. The Corporation requested Botanical Survey of India to submit plant diversity assessment report of the area which is to be required for submission of the Wildlife proposal (as per DFCCIL request letter vide No. HQ/SEMU/EC/Forest/Koderma dated 06.01.2016). We are also thankful to the Chief Project Manager, Dedicated Freight Corridor Map 1: DPR Phase II (Courtesy: R. K. Kedia, DFFCIL, Kolkata; Pers. Com.) 1 | Page Corporation of India Ltd., Kolkata [No. KKK/EN/LA/KQRdetour/Gaya forest/307/1537 dated 21.01.2016] for funding to undertake field tour and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, Bihar; Divisional Forest Officer, Gaya Forest Division, Gaya (Bihar) & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden, Jharkhand, for permission to explore the area. A team of two scientific personnel Dr. Basant Kumar Singh & Sri Anand Kumar of Botanical Survey of India have visited the site from 1st February to 7th February, 2016. 2. Study area The study was focused on 13 forest blocks (Alakhdiha, Bagai, Dibobasera, Dundu, Harakurha, Jhurang, Kathotiya Kewal, Mochrak, Regaini, Ruidhamna, Sarne, Taro & Tegaini) of Gaya district, Bihar and four forest blocks (Bukar, Garmorwa, Khairatand & Menukhar) of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. Among 13 forest blocks of Gaya district, three (Dibobasera, Mochrak & Sarne) lie in the Gautam Buddha Wildlife Sanctuary (GBWLS), Gaya district, Bihar covering Map 2: Proposed Koderma Detour in between Koderma and Paharpur Railway Station (Courtesy: R. K. Kedia, DFCCIL, Kolkata; Per. Comm.) 2 | Page an area of 15.35 km2 and remaining 10 are adjacent to the Sanctuary. Similarly all the four forest blocks of Hazaribagh district lie in the Sanctuary covering an area of 22.67 km2. Approx 15 km of Koderma detour under the Eastern Dedicated Freight Project will pass through the Sanctuary. m % * * — * i Gurpa^, AlakdihaAlakdihaGurp^, ^ Kathotiya Kebal Jhuranc.. jj^ M o c h ra k Dibobasera * ^ 2 r ‘ J Vc Khairatand Be# . Menukhar Barachalti fAHll X Kenduahi alias Oanua Garmorwa Map 3: Location map of surveyed area (Courtesy: Satellite map: Google Earth) 3 | Page GBWLS was notified as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1976. It is situated in Gaya district of Bihar and Hazaribagh & Chatra districts of Jharkhand. It lies between 24019' - 24031' N latitudes and 84059' - 85017' E longitudes. At present, it covers an area of 259.5 km2 of which 138.33 km2 in Bihar and remaining area of 121.14 km2 in Jharkhand. The forests of the study area fall under Northern tropical dry deciduous forest, which has been sub-classified into Dry peninsular Sal forest, Northern dry mixed deciduous forest, Dry deciduous scrub forest and Butea forest (Champion and Seth, 1968). The inhabitants inside the study area depend upon the forest resources such as food, medicines, shelters and other household purposes. Table 1: Forest villages surveyed: Sl. Name of Forestvillages Districts & States Latitude & Longitude No. Bihar 1. Alakhdiha Gaya 24°33'26.4"N 85°17'35.0"E 2. Bagai Gaya 24°30'51.6"N 85°16'41.0"E 3. Dibobasera GBWLS, Gaya 24°30'08.4"N 85°14'12.7"E 4. Dundu Gaya 24°32'00.9"N 85°16'40.0"E 5. Harakurha Gaya 24°31'29.7"N 85°14'18.1"E 6. Jhurang Gaya 24°31'04.9"N 85°13'36.2"E 7. Kathotiya Kewal Gaya 24°32'57.8"N 85°17'25.5"E 8. Mochrak GBWLS, Gaya 24°30'56.7"N 85°14'32.3"E 9. Regaini Gaya 24°30'47.2"N 85°15'47.3"E 4 | Page Sl. Name of Forestvillages Districts & States Latitude & Longitude No. 10. Ruidhamna Gaya 24°34'08.3"N 85°16'23.6"E 11. S arne GBWLS, Gaya 24°29'27.6"N 85°16'15.4"E 12. Taro Gaya 24°34'10.7"N 85°16'14.3"E 13. Tegaini Gaya 24°30'14.9"N 85°15'58.0"E Jharkhand 14. Bukar GBWLS, Hazaribagh, 24°27'57.5"N 85°16'25.1"E 15. Garmorwa GBWLS, Hazaribagh 24°25'58.2"N 85°14'01.9"E 16. Khairatand GBWLS, Hazaribagh, 24°27'30.6"N 85°17'54.1"E 17. Menukhar GBWLS, Hazaribagh, 24°27'20.3"N 85°14'58.5"E 3. Materials and Method Intensive survey has been undertaken from 1st February to 7th February, 2016 in study area. Plants in flowers and fruits were collected during explorations. Field details such as habitat, habit and height of the plant, colour and odour of the flowers and fruits, associated plants and distribution were noted in the field book. Plants in flowering and fruiting and different types of vegetation in the study area were photographed. The collected specimens were processed following 5 | Page standard herbarium techniques (Jain & Rao, 1977). Specimens were identified using regional floras and also compared with authentic specimens deposited at CAL. Monographs, revisions and more recent literature were referred to for critical identification and name updating. "Walk-in-the-wood" for in situ method of interviewing was adopted for ethno-botanical analysis for the better quality of result and reliable data (Thomas et al., 2007; Martin, 2008). The information recorded with the help of key informants in the study area includes vernacular name and traditional uses.