While clamping down on smuggling with an iron hand has been the only strategy adopted so far vis-à-vis red sanders, the State-level review meeting on ‘Conservation of Red Sanders Forests’ conducted here on Monday unveiled a ‘soft angle’ of providing livelihood to the culprits to wean them away from the act.
The presence of Special Chief Secretary P.V. Ramesh, Director General of Police J.V. Ramudu, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest S.B.L. Misra, Deputy Inspectors General of Police J. Prabhakar Rao (Anantapur range) and M. Kantha Rao (Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Taskforce), Collectors K.V. Satyanarayana (Kadapa) and Siddharth Jain (Chittoor) added to the increasing importance of new strategies like livelihood packages and rural employment generation to curtail smuggling.
Most woodcutters are engaged from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and the end beneficiaries are residents abroad. Local villagers arrange logistical support such as food, transportation, shelter and escort arrangements. Breaking the nexus works effectively when this middle layer is shattered and weaned away from acting as a bridge.
Mr. Ramesh welcomed the coordinated efforts among forest, police and revenue departments to achieve synergic effect. While lauding the task force’s role, he said that serious efforts to curb smuggling started only with the strong leadership that emerged post-bifurcation.
Mr. Ramudu minced no words in saying that red sanders smuggling thrived in the past due to vested interests and tacit political support, but was confident that the decades-old indifference would be a thing of the past. He indicated that the amended Forest Act would have enough teeth to nab the culprits, hasten the investigation process and bring the culprits before the law.
He found that the arrest of a smuggler had never been the end of the road as his henchmen soon replaced him to continue the profession. “Renewed and continued efforts will have to be put in place to ensure livelihood options, so as to wean them away from the profession,” he observed.
As the manpower is far inadequate to guard the huge forest area, Mr. Misra highlighted e-surveillance measures like using CCTV cameras and electronic gadgets to watch the entry/exit points in the forest.
Mr. Kantha Rao, in his presentation, explained that the unrepentant youth of Javvadumalai area in Tamil Nadu, known for their expertise in tree felling, comprised 90 per cent of the woodcutters and hence no amount of vigilance and punitive action could control their entry.
Resource crunch
On the flip side, many forest and police officials, on condition of anonymity, blamed resource crunch as the major shortcoming. While diversion of constables to the forest duty cast a shadow on regular policing, the financial burden of setting up base camps and transporting the cops into and out of the forest everyday are basic issues that remain unaddressed.
