VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Chief Minister and Forests & Environment Minister Konidela Pawan Kalyan on Saturday directed officials to accelerate Andhra Pradesh’s seed ball distribution programme using drones to restore degraded forests in inaccessible areas, while warning of stringent action against anyone, including government officials, found aiding red sanders smuggling.
Reviewing the Forest department’s activities, he instructed officials to use drones to disperse seed balls across 1,000 acres in remote forest regions and continuously monitor rainfall and soil moisture to ensure timely distribution. Calling the initiative key to the government’s goal of increasing the State’s green cover to 50%, he directed officials to complete the target of restoring 30,000 hectares within the stipulated timeframe while ensuring the survival of new plantations.
Officials informed him that over 30 million seed balls have been prepared across the State, of which more than 6.3 million have already been dispersed over nearly 6,500 hectares. Around 5.9 million were distributed manually across about 6,000 hectares, while drones were deployed for the first time to cover nearly 1,000 acres of inaccessible forest terrain.
Rajamahendravaram forest circle recorded the highest distribution with nearly 2.8 million seed balls, including 226,000 through drones. Drone operations are continuing in Chintoor, PT Atmakur, Giddalur, Markapuram and YSR Kadapa divisions. Pawan also cautioned officials against delays despite possible El Niño-induced drought conditions and asked them to deploy additional drones wherever required.
Smugglers warned
In a separate review on red sanders smuggling, Pawan directed officials to intensify Operation Aranya and warned that no one involved in facilitating the illegal trade would be spared. He reviewed the seizure of 78 red sanders logs worth around Rs 1.5 crore near Jyothi Gudi in Avadhuta Kasinayana mandal of Kadapa district.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the Anti-Red Sanders Smuggling Task Force intercepted a Bolero Max truck carrying red sanders logs concealed beneath household goods and arrested two interstate smugglers from Haryana, identified as Sunny and Ramesh. Investigations also led to the arrest of Forest Beat Officer Mallikarjuna.
Officials informed the Deputy Chief Minister that key masterminds linked to the racket have been identified in Bengaluru, Haryana and Kolkata. He directed special teams to trace the remaining accused, ordered a departmental inquiry into the role of the beat officer.