Red sanders smuggling in the Seshachalam forests declined in 2016, going by official statistics.
Thirty woodcutters were killed in exchange of fire between 2012 and 2015. The number of cases booked this year is 392, a sharp fall from 752 last year. The wood seized from smugglers and dumps is to the tune of 234 tonnes against 356 tonnes last year, and the number of vehicles seized is also down from 474 to 310.
Though the figures are impressive compared to the previous year, the bitter fact is that they are still far from satisfactory. The major stumbling blocks are connivance of forest/police staff, ageing field staff, absence of recruitment, inability to tap technology and local villagers’ support to woodcutters.
“Cooperation by insiders in department and ration supply by local people are major hurdles, but we are going ahead with confidence,” says M. Kantha Rao, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Red sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF).
The department is collecting Call Detail Record (CDR) of all suspicious elements to identify the ‘black sheep’. The task force police station established this year registered 29 cases, seized 495 logs and 13 vehicles.
Greying workforce
The major impediment is the greying foresters, as the average age is 54 years. Sixty per cent of field staff are above 50 years of age and a whopping 47 per cent of posts remain vacant.
“No progress can be achieved unless these issues are addressed,” explains Deputy Conservator of Forest B.N.N. Murthy. The operational strength of the task force is a paltry 150 armed staff, while the forest staff strength in the red sanders area is just 350 men against the requirement of 1,500. The proposal to have more armed base camps for close surveillance remains on paper.
At present, cameras are present only in 15-18 locations in the porous forest. The mega plan to infuse technology has also suffered a setback, as the proposal to add 450 web-enabled CCTV cameras in 250 locations, the entry/exit points into forest, is also pending with the government.
