TIRUPATI: With the goal to improve vigilance and prevent the smuggling of red sanders, Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) will start using satellite phones from the New Year. The forest department has approved eight I-SAT phones for the task force.
"Teams on the field will be able to easily share information regarding the smugglers’ movement with the help of the satphones, which connect by radio through orbiting satellites. RSASTF conducted a special drive for the execution of pending non-bailable warrants and summons in various districts of Tamil Nadu. It executed 22 NBWs and served 102 summons," Task Force SP M Sundara Rao said.
The task force, in joint operations conducted in collaboration with the police and forest personnel, has seized 2,554 red sanders logs weighing 50,880 kg in 117 cases, arrested 342 persons and seized 43 vehicles in various operations and raids this year.
Out of the 434 identified smugglers - against whom 104 cases are registered - 150 are from Tamil Nadu, 166 from Andhra Pradesh and seven from other States. Another 55 smugglers from Andhra Pradesh, 49 from Tamil Nadu and seven more from other States are on the run.
It may be added that all cases pertaining to the red sanders smuggling are non-bailable in nature, and 145 such cases are pending trial in various sessions courts, at present.
Amid the authorities' efforts to tighten the vigil in the forests by adopting the latest technologies and improving the informer network, the smugglers are not far behind as they, too, improvise their strategies in order to give the security forces a slip and enter the Seshachalam forest.
To deceive the task force, woodcutters now frequently change their entry/exit points apart from venturing deep into the forest. After reaching Tirupati by bus, they disperse and trek to Srivari Mettu individually. Soon after reaching the forest periphery, the woodcutters re-assemble and venture into the forest.
Equipping the task force with satphones is a move towards the efforts to identify the movement of such woodcutters early and arrest them before they enter the forests. "The task force has been preventing the smuggling of red sanders logs from the forest area. We have strengthened the vigil at various entry/exit points of the forest area, and adopted latest technologies to curb the smuggling activity further," Sundara Rao added.
Tech to help officials communicate better
To deceive the task force, woodcutters frequently change their entry/exit points apart from venturing deep into the Seshachalam forest. After reaching Tirupati by bus, they disperse and trek to Srivari Mettu individually.
Equipping the task force with satphones is a move towards the efforts to identify the movement of such woodcutters early and arrest them before they enter the forests.