Adilabad, reports suggest, will be desertified in a flash if the government does not immediately step up efforts to curb the open smuggling of timber and teak from the forests of the district.
It has been reported that the forested land in the district has plummeted from 75% to a shocking 36%. This steep fall may be attributed to the portable electric saw being increasingly employed by smugglers and contractors.
Also, the wood is being cut into rectangular planks, which are then tied together and set adrift on the Godavari river. The planks are then pulled ashore at pre-destined points along the river. This makes transportation of the timber easier and cheaper.
Those living on the fringes of the forests lament that timber worth crores of rupees is being transported out of the forest in trucks, and that they are helpless in stopping the steady out-flow. The residents of the district lament that the deforestation is having adverse environmental impacts, and that they have to face harsher climatic conditions.
The locals explain that when they approached the police to take action against those smuggling timber in broad daylight, the police work hand in glove with contractors and seths, and take the complainants into custody instead wherein they are allegedly roughed up.