YSR Congress has said that TDP government has been shielding red sander smugglers who are looting the natural resource as the task force set to check the menace has been made ineffective.

Party senior leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy deported that the task force has been ill-equipped in terms of weapons, powers and man power and it has to play a second fiddle to the Forest Department which has been hamper the progress and this is being done by design as many TDP leaders are giving a helping hand to the illegal activity.

Though Chandrababu Naidu has boasted that he put down the red sander smuggling with an iron hand, Reddy said that there was no progress and it has been by design and red sander smuggling has been going on unabated in five districts, he said. He also reminded that Chief Minister’s claim that the amount realised from the auction of the seized red sanders would be used for loan waiver of farmers and DWACRA groups did not see light of the day and the natural resource has been publicly looted.

Though a task force has been set up to check the red sander smuggling, he said that the posts were not completely filled and they were not supplied with modern weapons and the force has no trained personnel. He wondered that the task force has to work under the Conservator of Forests and they have limited powers.

The YSRCP demanded that a special force be set up on the lines of Grey Hounds to check the red sander smuggling as the force has to fan 11 lakh acres spread over five districts and has over 1.10 crores trees. This natural resource has been misused by miscreants and the government has been helping them instead of checking the menace, he added.