Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) chief and DIG M. Kantha Rao on Thursday observed that red sanders smuggling activity had become a national issue and that the Central agencies should be involved in the rehabilitation of the traditional woodcutters' families of Javadi Hills in Tamil Nadu "which alone can help prevent felling and smuggling of red sanders trees”.
Speaking at the valedictory session of the two-day national seminar on “Effective strategies to curb red sanders smuggling” organised by the RSASTF and the Chittoor police at the District Police Training College here, Mr. Kantha Rao said on any given day over 200 woodcutters from TN would be felling red sanders trees in the Seshachalam hills of Chittoor and Kadapa. The same activity would also be going on in Nellore and Prakasam and the other Rayalaseema districts. "The police and forest officials, who form the crucial stakeholders in the protection of red sanders should think of involving the Central agencies such as Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Wildlife and Environmental agencies, Customs and other vital wings to evolve a national outlook to take on the red sanders smugglers. The existing strategies of the police and forest wings for the red sanders protection have become outdated and the mission is desperately in need of evidence-based policing, scientific investigation and widespread use of all available technologies," the official said.
Loss of wealth
The Task Force head felt that the damage to the red sanders wealth was a serious matter. "The woodcutters from Javadi Hills had wiped out the sandalwood species in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, in spite of the strong presence of the police and forest officials there. All the 20 woodcutters killed in the April 7, 2015 encounter at Tirumala foothills were from Javadi Hills. The need of the hour is to think of the rehabilitation of the woodcutters' families and to evolve a national policy to realise the goal," Mr. Kantha Rao said. The official rejected the popular theory of gang leaders in red sanders network. He said the smuggling activity was being carried out by multiple groups, exploiting the poverty of traditional woodcutters.
Rayalaseema IG N. Sridhar Rao said the police personnel should shed the notion that the protection of red sanders was mainly the job of the forest department. "Felling of trees in the forests amounts to theft, and smuggling is another major crime. Now that the smuggling activity has covered more States, a multi-pronged strategy should be evolved to tackle it," he said. Steps would be initiated to enable talks between AP and TN governments for rehabilitation of woodcutters. The issue would be raised at the national level meetings. It also required to be discussed at the highest political levels. He underscored the need for sniffer dog squads in forests.
