Pawan Kalyan’s mass warning to red sandalwood smugglers!

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan issued a strong warning to red sandalwood smugglers. On Saturday, he visited the Forest Department’s red sandalwood godown in Mangalam, Tirupati district. He inspected the details of the red sandalwood logs stored across eight godowns, verifying records and classifications under A, B, C, and non-grade categories. After thoroughly checking the documentation in each godown, Pawan Kalyan directed forest officials to introduce unique barcodes and live tracking systems for every single log. He emphasized that strict surveillance must be maintained to ensure that not even one log goes missing from the time of seizure until it is sold.

During his inspection, Pawan Kalyan stated that illegal red sandalwood smuggling worth nearly ₹10,000 crores took place during the previous government’s tenure. After assuming office, he discussed the issue with the Karnataka government, who informed him that they had seized red sandalwood worth ₹140 crores, which originated from Andhra Pradesh. He pointed out that instead of the seized wood returning to the state, Karnataka benefited from its value. Pawan Kalyan added that since taking charge as the Minister for Forest and Environment, he has been holding continuous reviews and implementing strong measures to stop red sandalwood smuggling. He revealed that four major kingpins have already been identified, and firm action will be taken against them.

Earlier in the day, the Deputy CM also visited the Mamandur forest area in Tirupati district. He travelled over 4 kilometers through the forest, including 2 kilometers on foot, closely inspecting various trees. He examined species like red sandalwood, ankudu, tellamaddi, and bamboo, along with rare plants found only in the Seshachalam forest range, and obtained detailed reports from forest officials. From the watchtower at the Neerpyar Reserve Forest, Pawan Kalyan observed the entire forest region, including the Veligonda and Seshachalam forest boundaries, and inquired about the origin of the Swarnamukhi river and other ecological details from the officials.