The Assembly elections schedule in Tamil Nadu has brought relief to the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) personnel combing the thick forests of Seshachalam spread over Chittoor and Kadapa districts, during the last one week.
Task Force personnel, who concentrate on the entry and exit points along the foothills of Seshachalam ranges, particularly close to S.V. Zoo Park on Tiruapti outskirts, Chandragiri railway station, Kalyani dam and A. Ramgampeta, Tumburu Theertham in Chittoor district; Balapalle, Railway Kodur and Mamanduru in Kadapa district, confirmed that during the last one week, there has been a drastic fall in the number of woodcutters from Tamil Nadu entering the forests to fell red sanders trees.
Woodcutters from eight districts of TN - Tiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Villupuram and parts of Erode - contribute to the labour force working for the middlemen and illegal transporters in the red sanders smuggling. Majority of the woodcutters hails from tribal areas of hilly terrain of these districts.
Some of the woodcutters nabbed in the recent days pleaded with the Task Force parties not to handover over them to forest or police personnel, but to allow them to go scot-free.
They told the combing parties that till May 16 (the date when TN goes to polls), there would not be any major felling in Seshachalam hills. They revealed that the election campaign of various political parties in TN would pick up momentum in April second week and that the campaigners were in need of the labour force.
Seeped in poverty, families of the woodcutters too would be involved in the campaign activity, scheduled for the next one and half months.
The 45-day TN election period till May 16 is considered the potential period for the woodcutters' families to earn their livelihood without much strain. A couple of woodcutters revealed to the Task Force that their meistries (labour force suppliers) were currently luring them with double the package for their trip in view of the election season.
However, most woodcutters’ families are in favor of working on the domestic front, rather than risking in the Seshachalam hills, that too under hot sun. In spite of the promise of hefty remuneration from the red sanders smuggling network, each woodcutter is paid a maximum of Rs. 5000 for three trips in a month.
At this juncture, the election hungama will fetch them a minimum of Rs. 300 a day in the hilly districts. "This will help us stay with our families for a full one and half months. Our family members can also join us while at work (in the campaign). We need not worry for food and liquor. It is nice for us to settle for the assured benefits, rather than risking on an adventurous earning. Of course, after elections, we have no other option, but to come here again," a couple of woodcutters from Krishnagiri, apprehended last week, informed the Task Force.
Meanwhile, in view of the election code in Tamil Nadu, the border check posts with Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor and Nellore districts) are under scanner. The Task Force is of the opinion that the smugglers too might prefer a break in their operations across the check posts till the TN elections are over.
A senior inspector of the Task Force, Ashok Kumar confirmed that the movement of the woodcutters along the Seshachalam foothills had been missing during the last five days and attributed the phenomenon to election schedule in Tamil Nadu.
