Kuntala waterfalls in the district has become a major hub of teak smuggling, courtesy the Multani timber gang. The place was opted by the gang because of its remoteness and safety for illegal activities. It is located in dense forest of Neredigonda mandal.
The serene forest, which was part of Adilabad forest division, was made part of the buffer area of Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) last year. It has even been reorganised as a new forest range called Kuntala range by clubbing forest beats of Sirikonda, Sirichelma and Vaipet from Ichoda range and Kuntala and peesara beats from Boath range.
“Yes, we even arrested 10 Multanis engaged in smuggling timber in this forest range and booked them under stringent laws. Their activity, however, does not seem to stop,” observed Nirmal Divisional Forest Officer K. Ram Kishan, who visited Kuntala to make an assessment of the problem.
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“The Multanis are not afraid of smuggling timber even during day time,” pointed out Putta Somanna, a rescuer fisherman from Kuntala village near the waterfall. “If they find our people fishing in the water below the foot of the waterfall, they confine us for the entire day and night to ensure that the information does not leak out,” he added of the modus operandi of the habitual offenders.
The Multani community has nearly 5,000 members of habitual teak smugglers living in Gundala, Keshavpatnam and a few other villages in Ichoda mandal, besides another two in Bazarhatnoor mandal. They operate mostly in the jungles in Pembi reserve forest and now in the Kuntala range, which still has some teak jungles left.
The problem posed by the Multani community to the environment was even discussed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the State-level interactive session with forest officials on January 17, 2015.
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Among the 33 point instructions given to the forest officials following this meeting was the one dealing with rehabilitation of the habitual offenders living in five villages falling under Ichoda and Boath forest ranges.
“We will soon be getting a strike force in the KTR. We will also be requesting the Police Department to provide us with adequate support in controlling timber smuggling,” the DFO told The Hindu on Friday during his visit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ram Kishan also made an assessment of the danger that visitors faced when they entered the pool at the foot of the first falls.
He said he would make efforts to get the treacherous fissures closed at the earliest.