Timber smugglers exploited lockdown to the hilt: Activists

Chennai

Kanniyakumari has the tail end of Western Ghats and has one of the richest forest cover. The district has six forest ranges with large number of rubber trees. The rich flora of the district is now facing threat in the form of timber smugglers who utilised the lockdown period to escape undetected. The smuggling went to an extent that officials attached to Forest Vigilance Department had to undertake surprise raids in saw mills and seize wooden logs worth crores.

“Nearly 16 loads of wooden logs, mostly teak, were seized from two sawmills in the district. The logs were smuggled with the help of officials of Forest Department during the lockdown period as public movement is restricted,” said a social activist from Kumari, on request of anonymity.

The activist also said that the timber smuggling mafia gangs operate in areas of Kadambamoodu and Valayanthooki, both located in close proximity to Pechiparai dam. During night the smugglers transport wooden logs in boats in the Pechiparai reservoir from the hills utilising the manpower from Thatchamalai and Valayanthooki tribal settlements. There are 16 check-posts in the reserve forests and the illegal timber passes through all the checkposts with ease which shows the connivance of smugglers with officials, the activist said.

District Forest Officer TK Ashok Kumar said that vigilance had been increased in all the checkposts and the forest department will take all steps to control illegal smuggling.

Kerosene-sugar method to deceive foresters
Timber smugglers in Kanniyakumari adopt some of the novel ways to escape detection of Forest Department. “One of the ways adopted by the smugglers is to burn the leftover wooden logs with kerosene and sugar. This makes it appear like the tree was cut long before,” said another social activist on request of anonymity. The activist also said that sugar will act as a fuel and will aid in quick burning. When officials reach the spot the trees that are cut will look old and they will not have any clue when the tree were cut. Another technique is removing the barks of the tree after cutting the timber. Though the process takes time it is one of the simpler ways to confuse the officials, said the activist.