Andhra Pradesh

Timber smuggling: forest patrol nips it in the bud

ADILABAD: The dawn of Thursday turned out to be quite unusual for the 50 and odd cyclists on their way to fell trees in the forest near Adilabad town.

Instead of being caught while transporting the illegally felled trees to the town, these ‘regulars’ were prevented by Forest Department staffers from going to the jungle.

A forest patrol intercepted the cyclists at daybreak at the aerodrome, the most frequently used way to the forests starting near Ankoli village, some 5 km from here.

They also caught a few cyclists bringing back the timber felled the day before and a van load of bamboo.

“In the last eight days we formed special squads to prevent timber from being smuggled into Adilabad town. Illegally felled teak is brought on cycles from Talamadugu side while the timber that is brought in from Ankoli, Pippaldhari and Loddiguda villages, is usually non teak. Our aim is to prevent the smugglers from entering the forests instead of catching them after the act,” said Adilabad Divisional Forest Officer T.P. Thimma Reddy.

“In the name of gathering dried fuel wood, these cyclists cut trees. Earlier, residents of Khanapur used to indulge in the banned activity. Now we have 150 cyclists involved in felling of trees. They belong to areas like Khursheednagar, Sundarayyanagar, Tatiguda and Rickshaw colony,” revealed Adilabad Forest Range Officer Madhusudan Rao.

Each cyclist transports about a quintal of timber or fire wood on an average. The wood fetches about Rs. 200.

The cyclists work in shifts though not in consonance.

Some of them reach the forest early in the morning and bring back the loads the same afternoon.

Those who go to the jungle in the afternoon come back in the evening.

There are others who enter the jungle in the night only to return the next morning.

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