Mangalam (Andhra Pradesh), Nov 8 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Saturday directed officials to barcode every red sander log and track them in real time.
Kalyan, who also holds the forest portfolio, visited red sanders warehouses belonging to the forest department at Mangalam village in Tirupati Urban mandal.
“Set up unique bar coding and live tracking for every red sander log. Not even a single log should be missing from the time of its seizure to sale,” said Kalyan in an official release.
The Deputy CM checked out the precious wood stored in eight godowns, categorised into a, b, c and non-grade categories.
Addressing a press conference later, the actor-politician observed that the forest department warehouses hold a stockpile of 2.6 lakh red sanders logs.
Delving on red sanders smuggling, he issued a warning that if illegal felling and smuggling of this wood is not stopped immediately, then the government will undertake a special operation to contain this menace within a year.
According to the Deputy CM, a bilateral agreement between India and Nepal enabled the repatriation of red sanders logs worth ‘thousands of crores of rupees’, but lamented the fact that such a pact doesn’t exist among states within the country.
Stating that other states are seizing and auctioning red sanders wood belonging to the southern state, Kalyan said he had consulted with Union Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav to ensure that red sanders wood smuggled from Seshachalam forest and found in any other state will be returned to Andhra Pradesh.
Recently, he said red sanders wood worth up to Rs 25 crore found in states such as Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Tamil Nadu was returned to Andhra Pradesh.
Four red sanders smuggling kingpins were identified, said Kalyan, adding that they will be nabbed under a special strategy.
The Janasena founder alleged that red sanders worth Rs 10,000 crore were looted away during the previous YSRCP regime between 2019 and 2024.
Earlier, Kalyan also visited Mamanduru forest area in Tirupati district.
Back in May, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had directed all revenue-generating departments, including the forest department, to explore possibilities of increasing revenues for the state, setting an income target of over Rs 1.34 lakh crore for FY26.
Naidu had called for the setting up of a committee to facilitate the international sale of red sandalwood stocks in the state.
Highlighting that Andhra Pradesh is home to red sanders worth thousands of crores of rupees, he said monetising these reserves could bring in substantial income.
Referred to as Zitan in China, the hardwood species found exclusively in the Seshachalam forests of Andhra Pradesh is used for making furniture, among others. PTI STH KH
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