Smugglers stripping Adilabad forests

Adilabad: As there is a great demand for the quality teak wood in Adilabad district in markets, a few businessmen joined hands with wood poachers and felling trees in the forests. They sell this teak wood in Hyderabad, Mumbai and other areas.

Once thick forests in Adilabad, Nirmal, Echoda, Sirichalma, Indervelli, Pembi, Khanapur, Boath and Kadem mandals in the erstwhile Adilabad district have now become thin, with hundreds of teak trees under Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary being chopped down every day. Peechra, Addala Timmapur, Nagamalyala, Gutpula, Rajura, Kuntala Waterfalls and other areas in Neradigonda mandal have valuable teak trees.

The smugglers are marking the trees during day time, waits patiently till night and starts felling the trees. Later, they cut the trunks of these trees into desirable sizes for easy transportation. They transport the logs on bullock carts, hid them in the fields and later transport them in trucks to the destination.

Large scale smuggling of trees in Mavala, Sitagondi and Barampur in In Adilabad forest range; Jogipeta, Gunadala, Keshavapatnam and Sirichalma in Echoda forest range; in Indervelli area; Vaipet, Gopalpur, Tandra, Pochampalli, Valgonda and Herapur in Sirikonda mandal forest; Lakkampur, Vagdhari, Venkatapur and Tarnam in Neradigonda mandal; and in Kadam and Khanapur mandals is going on unabated.

Dedra, Madapur and Girijai in In Bajaratnur mandal; Ajjar Vajjar, Rajul Tanda, Raghunathpur, Dhannur and Gandiramanna Gutta in Boath mandal; and Nagamalyala, Etikyala and Kotiricla in Kuntala forest area, smugglers are felling trees.