Ramgarh has begun work on a Rs 3.55 crore Environment Awareness Centre that will restore a historic wood treatment plant and convert it into a public environmental education facility. The foundation stone was laid on Saturday under the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT).
The foundation-laying ceremony was attended by Ramgarh MLA Mamta Devi, deputy commissioner Rituraj, divisional forest officer Nitish Kumar and Rajiv Jaiswal, who represented Hazaribag MP Manish Jaiswal. The project will retain the existing wood treatment plant, which officials said was established around the time of Independence.
Instead of demolishing the structure, the administration plans to use heritage retrofitting to adapt it for contemporary public use. The proposed centre is intended to provide a permanent venue for education and awareness programmes related to the environment while preserving an industrial-era structure with local historical significance.
Officials said the centre would focus on forest conservation, biodiversity, water management, pollution control and the sustainable use of natural resources. Children and young people are expected to be among its primary audiences, although the facility is planned as a community asset for wider public engagement.
Mamta Devi said environmental protection was one of the most pressing needs of the present time and that nature conservation should progress alongside development. She said the centre would help build awareness among citizens, particularly children and youth.
Deputy commissioner Rituraj said the district administration was committed to balancing development with environmental conservation. He described the project as an effort to preserve an important heritage structure while giving it a new community role, and directed officials to ensure that construction was completed on time.
DFO Nitish Kumar said the centre would serve as a platform for explaining environmental issues and conservation practices to the public. The use of DMFT funding places the project within a district-level framework intended to support areas affected by mining-related activity, although the supplied report does not specify the centre’s completion date, operating agency or detailed facilities.
The project therefore combines two public functions: the adaptive reuse of a historic structure and the creation of an institutional space for environmental education. Further details on the construction schedule and the centre’s final programmes are expected as work progresses.
