With the State government taking a serious view of the growing red sanders smuggling activity in Rayalaseema districts, the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force has intensified the twin activities of combing operation and holding of awareness camps along the forest fringe areas.
Task force head and DIG M. Kantha Rao on Monday night launched the novel programme -- Adavi Bata -- at Bhimavaram village at the foot of Seshachalam hills, 25 km from Tirupati. As part of the programme, the task force personnel would screen short films on the evil impacts of red sanders smuggling.
Cultural programmes such as stage plays, folk songs, and burra kathas have also been designed to suit the theme of red sanders protection. Based on the suggestion of the AP Biodiversity Board, the task force has mooted involvement of the people of the forest fringe villages in the cultural programmes and awareness campaigns. The officials would make a night halt in a series of villages in a phased manner covering the entire vulnerable area.
A major highlight of the programme launched by the task force is adoption of a humane approach towards the woodcutters from Tamil Nadu, considering the ground realities that they are mostly driven towards working for the red sanders smuggling network by felling the precious trees and supplying the logs to the middlemen, and getting exposed to high levels of exploitation and human trafficking. “As part of our humane approach, the task force personnel would undertake counselling to the woodcutters who face capture while alighting buses at the forest fringe villages or before entering the prohibited forest reserves of the Seshachalam hills. Instead of handing over them to the police and forest officials for filing of criminal cases, we would counsel them and send back to their respective villages in Tamil Nadu. We hope to change the mindset of the poor TN woodcutters through this unique initiative, said the DIG.
Interestingly, the task force had on a couple of occasions arranged counselling to the TN woodcutters last year when they were caught in large numbers on the highways close to the Seshachalam hills. After conducting counselling and arranging food at the respective area police stations, they were allowed to return to their villages.
