ఊ అంటావా మావా!ఊ ఊ అంటావా మావా
Sure you have heard the song - "Oo Antava Mama Oo Oo Antava" ( Will you say yes or will you say no?) Back in early 1990s stayed overnight in a guesthouse deep inside Rampachodavaram forests – visiting a location where few lakhs worth cut trees had been burnt, in an alleged accident !!- understood that some variety of trees are grown and cut after many years.The felled trees are then auctioned by the Govt !
Pterocarpus santalinus is a species of Pterocarpus native to India better known as ‘Read sanders’ is one main and lucrative market for smugglers as a high price is paid for this wood in China.
The holy Tirumala, contain seven peaks namely, Anjanadri, Garudadri, Narayanadri, Neeladri, Seshadri, Venkatadri and Vrishabhadri, the highest at about 1000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. The seven peaks represent the seven hoods of Shesha, the king of the serpents in Hindu religion. Seshachalam Hills are hilly ranges part of the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh state, in southeastern India. The Seshachalam hill ranges are predominantly present in Annamayya and Tirupati districts of the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh. The ranges were formed during the Precambrian supereon (3.8 billion to 539 million years ago). Minerals contained in these hills include sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone.
Seshachalam Hills, one of India’s richest biospheres is considered a floristic hotspot as it houses many endemic and rare species including five gecko species, 12 species of lizards and 22 species of snakes. However, it is red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus), the tall trees which give one of the world’s finest and rarest woods, growing in these hills makes Seshachalam a hotspot of crime and a hub of mafia.
The price of red sandalwood significantly varies depending upon its quality, rarity, and demand. The average price of red sandalwood is in the range of ₹50,000 to ₹1,00,000 per kilogram. Premium quality red sandalwood, however, can fetch a price as high as ₹2,00,000 per kilogram. This is due to its scarcity and the difficulty involved in the harvesting and processing of the wood. Red sandalwood has been valued for ages in traditional medicine, because of its rich content of beneficial compounds such as santalol. This is a well-known agent with anti-inflammatory properties and is used in the treatment of diseases like arthritis and skin infections. Its antiseptic property helps in the healing of wounds and prevents infections. Red sandalwood is also an astringent and is used in skincare to tighten and tone the skin, reduce pores, and fine lines. It helps in digestion and even reduces problems such as bloating and indigestion. It is also popular for improving the texture of skin, treating acne and eczema, and improving overall skin health.
In the 1990s, Pushpa Raj, a labourer, decides to smuggle red sandalwood, a rare wood in high demand that only grows in the Seshachalam Hills of the Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh with his friend sidekick Keshava. When DSP Govindappa and his team raid the forest for apprehending the coolies and seize the stock, Pushpa hides it, gets arrested and brutally beaten for revealing the location of wood. Pushpa's employer, smuggler Konda Reddy and his brothers bail Pushpa out for the stock's location and he eventually rises through the ranks by suggesting novel ideas to smuggle the stock earning Konda Reddy's trust and becoming his 5% partner, while also simultaneously receiving hatred from Konda Reddy's youngest brother Jolly Reddy !!!!- the plot of hit movie Pushpa !
Pushpa: The Rise – Part 01released in 2021 was a mega hit Telegu filmwritten and directed by Sukumar, starring Super Star Allu Arjun as the titular character.Allu Arjun’s acting, swag, dialogues and dance moves took the internet by storm and gave birth to several viral memes.
A consignment of red sandalwood arrives at the Yokohama port in Japan, where workers are shocked to find Pushpa hidden inside one of the containers. He attacks them, demanding payment for the load but is shot and falls into the sea, triggering a flashback. After humiliating SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat,[a] Pushpa rises to power as a respected smuggler, while Shekhawat goes into hiding. Shekhawat secretly masquerades as a labourer and intercepts a massive sandalwood consignment. Meanwhile, Pushpa meets the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Narasimha Reddy, but is denied a photograph with him to avoid political backlash. Offended, Pushpa vows to topple the government by making Siddappa the Chief Minister, raising ₹500 crores through sandalwood smuggling.the plot of Pushpa 2 directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, in association with Sukumar Writings. The film stars Allu Arjun in the title role, alongside Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Dhananjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil and Anasuya Bharadwaj.
The red sanders smuggling racket, as portrayed in Pushpa, operates from forest villages to international markets. Orders placed from abroad are communicated through middlemen or agents to local operators, who contact foremen supplying woodcutters from Tamil Nadu. Men, who need money are brought in on trains or buses and, in the dark of the night, walk long distances deep into the Seshachalam forests. In some instances, corrupt lower-level forest officials guide them to the right patches. The logs are chipped, cured, carried out of thick forests, loaded onto vehicles, and transported, concealed among materials like rice husks, watermelons, oil tankers and even ambulances. As the movie further depicted, red sanders smuggling involves various independent gangs. It is often turf wars that result in the leak of information to law enforcement who then bust the network.
That made us think Red Sanders is Gold in wood but a recent report in media portrays a newer dimension !!!!
As the makers of the Pushpa film franchise, based on the infamous red sandalwood, or red sanders, smuggling from Andhra Pradesh, mint money, the Chandrababu Naidu government is seeking to earn some additional revenue from the sale of the precious logs that were illegally felled and smuggled out of the debt-ridden state.The forest department has proposed to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) that only Andhra Pradesh be allowed to sell the smuggled logs in a single-window global auction, regardless of which state they were seized in by law enforcement agencies.
Recently, this month, AP Police, acting on a tip-off, seized red sanders logs worth Rs 3.5 crore on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway, near Guntur, and arrested two smugglers from Tamil Nadu. The logs were concealed under bundles of A4 white paper sheets in a truck. According to the forest officials, the department has a stock of 5,400 tonnes of red sander logs seized from smugglers, whereas another around 5,000 tonnes is in the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, operating under the Ministry of Finance’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. In addition, over 1,000 tonnes of the smuggled logs are in other states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka, seized by their police. Even far off Haryana has 120 tonnes.
Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa - centered around red sanders smugglers - laughed all the way to the bank earning (Part 1 & 2) over Rs 2,000 crore, while the AP govt's attempts to auction red sanders logs have hit a roadblock, with the international market showing no interest.It is stated that despite multiple attempts to auction the prized logs, known for their demand in certain traditional medicinal and luxury goods industries, there have been no takers. AP govt, the only authorised seller of red sandalwood, is struggling to sell even a tonne of this valuable in the international market.
The report adds that since Covid-19 pandemic began, no red sandalwood has been sold in international auctions, with China being the primary market. Since the 1990s, AP has held nearly 24 rounds of international auctions, but the govt has only garnered around Rs 1,800 crore - less than the earnings from Pushpa. Lack of a robust market, coupled with stringent regulations, has left the govt grappling to sell these valuable resources, sources say. The AP govt faced a setback in Nov-Dec this year when it tried to auction 905 tonnes of red sandalwood, failing to sell a single tonne.
"China remains the primary market, but demand has fallen since 2020 due to the pandemic," sources explained, attributing the decline to the global economic slowdown. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade granted AP permission to auction 11,000 tonnes, but there are currently about 4,000 tonnes stored in a high-security depot in the temple town of Tirupati. AP uses MSTC, the central govt's e-auction platform, for international sales.
The logs are graded into three categories: A, B, and C, with A being the highest quality. A-grade wood once fetched Rs 1 crore-Rs 1.5 crore a tonne during the previous TDP govt's tenure (2014-2019). Today, A-grade wood is valued at around Rs 75 lakh a tonne.
While smugglers illegally harvest and export the timber, many have been caught by law enforcement. Despite the market slump, govt sources said that there are no plans to lower the price. "We expect demand to return, and we do not want to give smugglers a chance to manipulate the market and form cartels," said a senior govt official. This paradox - Pushpa fuelling interest in the illegal trade while the govt struggling to sell the timber legally - highlights the growing challenges of regulating red sandalwood's trade amidst fluctuating market conditions, a market expert reasoned.
Aside, the hero of PushpaAllu Arjun was arrested from his residence on December 13 in relation to the death of a 35-year-old woman from a stampede that occurred at the premiere show of the actor's film at Sandhya Theatre. The actor was sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Nampally Court. Even though the Telangana High Court granted an interim 4-week bail to the Pushpa 2 star, the primary case against him is still active in the local court. Owing to this, Allu Arjun will appear in court today, the end of the 14-day period.
Regards – S Sampathkumar
27.12.2024
