Though leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu have come out strongly against the killing of 20 woodcutters from the State by the Special Task Force of the Andhra Pradesh Police in the red sanders- rich Seshachalam Hill Ranges near Tirupati, the fact remains that Tuesday’s shootout was a “disaster” which was waiting to happen.
Out of the 20 woodcutters killed on Tuesday, eight of them hailed from Thiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts whereas eight were from Vellore district.
In December 2013, David and Sreedhar Rao, two officials of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department were murdered allegedly by red sandres smugglers inside the Seshachalam Hill Ranges. This led to the killing of two woodcutters from Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvannamalai district in 2013 itself.
A committee of human and civil rights activists, which toured the Seshachalam Hill Ranges and Thiruvannamalai district and interacted with the relatives of the woodcutters, came across disturbing developments which they reported to the Government of Tamil Nadu.
According to Parasuraman Sekhar, a lawyer, who was a member of the committee, the two woodcutters shot dead by the STF were not involved in illegal activities.
“There was no livelihood for them in their native Javadi Hills. The widespread starvation forced them to accept the offer made by labour contractors from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. They were offered Rs500 to Rs1,000 for every kilogram of red sanders they cut from the SHR,” Sekhar told The Pioneer.
The committee found that red wood poaching is a major industry in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu patronised by political bigwigs.
“Though there is not much demand for red sanders in India, the commodity commands big premium in countries like China, Japan, Myanmar, where a kilogram of red sanders fetches Rs1 lakh,” said Sekhar.
He said the committee came across hundreds of woodcutters from Salem and Thiruvannamalai districts, employed by the smugglers in SHR. “Tree cutters from Thiruvannamalai and Yercaud are one of the fastest cutters in Tamil Nadu. They are experts in felling big trees and shaving off the bark. They are also swift trekkers capable of walking through dense forests with heavy head load of woods,” said the report submitted to the Government of Tamil Nadu by the committee.
“We had pleaded with the Tamil Nadu Government on many occasions to take strict actions against the labour contractors which would have prevented Tuesday’s tragedy,” said Sekhar. Another member of the committee said a joint operation by the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh would have prevented red sanders smuggling. For every one tonne of red sanders seized by the police or forest officials, ten tonnes of wood find their way safely to the destination,” said Sekhar.
Red Sanders find application in manufacture of traditional medicines in South East Asian countries, ship building industry and woodcraft. It has been found that sanders is capable of reducing radiation from nuclear reactors.