Rs 8 lakh worth Red Sandal seized

Nellore,Oct 21: The forest department officials on Wednesday seized Red Sandal wood worth Rs 8 lakh at Gilakapadu in Ravuri mandal in Nellore district.Acting on a tip-off, the forest department flying squad had seized a mini van carrying unauthorizedly Red Sandal worth Rs 8 lakhs in the international market.On seeing the flying squad, the accused left the mini van and managed to escape.The officials seized the van along with Red Sandals. They registered a case.It may be recalled that late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had pulled up Forest Department officials over reports of rampant felling and smuggling of red sanders (Red Sandal wood) trees from the state’s forests.The CM is learnt to have given a dressing down to senior officials after receiving reports that in spite of an action plan to tackle smuggling, red sanders were being smuggled out of forests in Chittor, Kadapa, Nellore and Kurnool.

Red sanders wood is in great demand in foreign countries including China, Japan and Germany. Reddy was apparently upset that the state’s forests were being vandalized and the wood, which fetches up to Rs 4 lakh per tonne, is being smuggled out of the country right under the noses of anti-smuggling squads and forest patrols.He wanted the punishment for smuggling red sanders to be included in Schedule 6 of the AP Forest Act, in order to make the punishment more stringent. He asked the forest officials to form inspection squads accompanied by armed police in each of the 11 forest divisions in the state.In 2003-04, the forest department seized 699 metric tonnes of red sanders wood. In 2006-2007, the seizures increased to 954 metric tonnes while in 2007-2008, 425 tonnes were seized.