Sandalwood smuggling goes unchecked in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: Although the city recorded its 12th case of sandalwood smuggling this year, the police department have registered only three cases so far. Police officials said that residents do not come forward to register a complaint. While forest officials claim that the area falls outside the reserve forest, not in their jurisdiction.
In total, in the last two years, there have been 20 cases of smuggling from various urban pockets in the city, including Race Course, Selvapuram, Ram Nagar, Gandhi Maa Nagar, VOC Park, Avinashi Road and Marudhamalai road.A few days back, a sandalwood tree was cut down near CSI school at Race Course.
“In most cases, the persons involved in axing the tree are tribals or paid labourers from the district. In April this year, we nabbed two persons who had smuggled 77kg of sandalwood near Karunya Nagar. We found that they had two number plates, one with Kerala registration and one with Tamil Nadu registration. They had also modified their vehicle to hide the sandalwood logs under the seats, which would completely go unnoticed during a regular check. This shows how big a racket it is,” said M Senthil Kumar, district forest officer.
“Even in the above mentioned case, the two nabbed were tribals who were lured with quick money, while the gang leader managed to escape,” said forest officials.
City police commissioner, A K Viswanathan said the police department had identified a gang of five involved in these smuggling activities using tribals. “With the help of the forest department, we have identified the men and would arrest them soon,” he said. Another police officer said that they were hopeful that after this arrest, the cases in the city would considerably come down. “We have never refrained from booking cases but the problem is people do not come forward to register a complaint,” said a police officer.
The forest officials said that they were also keeping a close watch inside the reserve forest to identify the people involved in the smuggling trade. “In 2014, 6 people were arrested and in 2015, we arrested four people. But those who we nab are mostly only contracted labourers who are paid Rs1,000 per tree. Most of them are not even aware where the logs are sent or who the gang leader is,” said a forest official.
NGOs in the city called for an inter-departmental coordinated effort to curb sandalwood smuggling. “This has been a problem not just for a couple of years as it has been going on for over a decade. With all the sandalwood factories set up in other states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, most of the logs are transported there. If the forest, police, transport and customs department come together, these smugglers could be nabbed easily,” said K Kalidas of Osai, an environmental NGO.
M Yoganathan, an environmentalist, called for a survey on the number of sandalwood trees in the city. “If the trees are surveyed and marked, the police and public could keep a close watch and also appoint security guards in the area. Police could also increase patrolling in these areas,” he said.
For a sandalwood tree to fully grow, it would take at least 15-20 years. “Sandalwood is already in the list of endangered species and the numbers have drastically come down in the forests owing to rampant plundering. In Coimbatore city alone, there must be over 2,000 trees which need to be protected. Recently, the state government had ordered for sandalwood to be planted in Vellore and Salem as the numbers had come down,” Kalidas said. He added that if such smuggling continue, the tree might go extinct in this belt.