Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Forest department is ready to further tighten the noose against red sanders smugglers.
As per a senior Forest department official, a confidential pilot project is being conducted for monitoring some locations of forests connected with smuggling of red sanders. If this project is successful it will be implemented on a large scale for conservation of the endangered tree.
Another measure being taken up by the AP Forest Department is digging of trenches. Woodcutters chop red sanders from deep forest areas and carry the logs and dump at pre-designated spots in the forest from where they are carried in vehicles.
A forest department official said that works were on to dig trenches along a length of 500 km in the forests bearing red sanders so that the entry of these vehicles could be prevented.
The forest department has also installed 40 CCTV cameras and even officials have been kept in the dark about the locations of these cameras.
A DFO said, “Monitoring of footage received from these CCTV cameras is done by a select team. Whenever any infiltration is observed we are alerted after which we reach the spot and take action.”
