: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said a notification for auctioning seized red sanders logs is scheduled to be issued on September 15, and called for an action plan for expanding the area under cultivation of red sanders from the present 583523 hectares.
In a review meeting on steps taken for checking smuggling of red sanders, here on Wednesday, Mr. Naidu asked officials of the Forest and Police Departments to invoke the provisions of the A.P Forest Act, 1967 to ensure that the smugglers do not get away with their illegal activity.
With the amendments to the A.P Forest Act getting Presidential ascent recently, the officials should have no difficulty in curbing the menace. A research centre should be set up in Tirupati for exploring ways to grow more trees and sustain them. A proposal to establish a corporation for auctioning the contraband was under consideration. The international markets for red-sanders are being studied for fetching maximum revenue from auctions.
Officials of the Forest Department told the Chief Minister that 100 base camps and 127 check-posts were set up in the areas prone to smuggling of the precious wood. These areas are being closely watched through e-surveillance and with the help of vehicle scanners.
Drones and geo-fencing too yielded good result in exposing the smugglers. Trenches are being dug in about 1267 square kilometres.
