The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Timber smuggling in Godavari worries forest officials

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Others

Timber smuggling in Godavari worries forest officials

G. Nagaraja

Long river course makes patrolling difficult

STOCK-TAKING: Divisional Forest Officer V.S.N. Murthy with the seized timber at the Singanapalli check-post.

SINGANAPALLY (WEST GODAVARI): Smuggling of timber in the Godavari worries the Forest Department.

The long course of the Godavari, which confluences with the Bay of Bengal at Antarvedi in East Godavari district after criss-crossing Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and finally Andhra Pradesh, has turned out to be a safe conduit for smuggling of the forest produce.

Herculean task

The protruding hill ranges right into the heart of the river at some points and the flow of the Godavari around the Papikondalu have seemingly made it a difficult task for the forest officials to ensure river patrolling.

Wily smugglers employ a plenty of tricks to give the forest personnel the slip. Smuggling of timber in the form of rafts is just one among them.

Seizure of the smuggled timber worth Rs. 45 lakhs at a check-post at this riverside tribal village alone in this financial year is a grim pointer to the extent of loss of the forest wealth.

According to V.S.N. Murthy, Divisional Forest Officer, the seized timber included teak, rosewood and `chinduga'.

The forest personnel booked 131 cases against smugglers caught at the check-post during the year.

"Timber is quite often smuggled through the river from the forests even in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh," Mr. Murthy says.The department has also engaged two launches for river patrolling, he adds.

Patrolling of a vast expanse of 811 sq km of reserve forests in the district at the rate of 20 sq km per Beat Officer seems to be a Herculean task.

Encouraging response

Says M.V. Satyanarayana Murthy, Forest Range Officer:

"The concept of Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS) helps a lot in protecting the forest wealth with the involvement of local communities."

The experience at Orrinka under Kannapuram range, one of the agency villages that has earned notoriety for timber smuggling, is quite encouraging, for the Forest Department in befriending the locals in its endeavour to check smuggling.

Forest management

VSS members in the village, who raised bamboo plantations in the degraded forest area under the Community Forest Management scheme, have earned Rs. 7 lakhs in the form of selling bamboo shoots in the current season.

"When the forest feeds our families, we can't afford to allow its destruction in any form," says Sude Sankudu, a VSS member from Orrinka.

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