After a lull, red sanders operatives back in action

After a lull of about six months, inflow of the red sanders smuggling operatives from the north-western districts of Tamil Nadu into the Seshachalam hills unfold over Chittoor and Kadapa districts has resumed. The space with cascading streams and rivulets coupled with dense undergrowth offers the trespassers the much-needed help to hoodwink the combing activity drive groups and to camp for a fortnight and past on the banks of scenic streams.

The smuggling exercise in the Seshachalam hills got here to a halt on March 24 when lockdown was clamped in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19. Three months later, the bustle of woodcutters resumed, however on a negligible scale following curbs on the border check-posts. With full lifting of the restrictions on the transport throughout the borders, the motion of woodcutters has slowly returned to its seen ranges since a week.

According to the officers of the Red Sanders Task Force, the variety of operatives current in the Talakona vary alone since a couple of days is over 40, other than different batches on their errands at Chamla and Balapalle ranges. During the recent combing operations, the duty drive personnel have come throughout a number of halting factors of the operatives, the place the latter discovered sufficient time to cook dinner meal and revel in booze as nicely. In the earlier years, the operatives needed to go a number of kms in search of water, however now they may discover it in simply a few meters from wherever they halt.

The copious rains in the biosphere from June until now led to cascading waterfalls and streams between Talakona to Rajampeta vary.

Now that the operatives are exploiting the advantages of rains and undergrowth, the duty drive personnel observe that the state of affairs has made their activity very powerful. As most rivulets and streams are brimming with rainwater, the probabilities of detecting the footprints of the smuggling operatives flip bleak.

It is noticed that in scorching summer season months, the forest paths could be clear and the sounds of axing the bushes and clatter of cooking utensils and murmurs of the operatives may very well be detected with a point of accuracy.

Green cowl

A combing professional and Inspector of the Red Sanders Task Force, M. Vasu, chatting with Puucho News confirmed that the rains and density of inexperienced cowl in latest months turned a boon for the smuggling operatives. He stated that recent batches are actually hitting their outdated trails by way of Bhimavaram and Chamla valleys, Kalyani dam and Talakona vary, trekking over 40 km in the direction of red sanders wealthy beats on the borders with Kadapa.

“After a lull in combing activity, we too find our paths completely covered with undergrowth, making our advancement difficult. The sighting of wild animals, mostly bears, wild elephants and reptiles, is another cause for concern,” stated the duty drive official.