Tirupati: In view of government’s plans to dispose off 4,000 tonnes of red sanders through global tenders, a team of forest officials, headed by additional principal conservator of forests Muralikrishna, IFS officers John and Ramesh inspected the red sanders lying in the godowns in Rayalaseema region on Tuesday.
Speaking to the media at Tirupati, the team members said that 1,440 tonnes of red sanders are in Tirupati alone. According to the officials, their department will segregate the logs for disposal after grading them. The cost of red sander used to be Rs 2 lakh per tonne in AP as against Rs 7 lakh in Tamil Nadu sometime back.
The cost will be much higher in the international market and the government will reap rich benefits through global tenders. Reacting to a question on forest minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy's statement that government will use forest staff to chop the red sander trees, the officials expressed doubts over the possibility stressing that it is a gigantic task. They added that it is depending on the government decision.
The team members said that they are also planning to auction the 1300 vehicles out of 1500 seized for transporting red sanders illegally.
