“Smuggling of Red Sanders- Injurious Consequences” by Prof. Padmaraju Yenadi Raju

The book is about the smuggling of valuable red sand from Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh and its harmful consequences. It has been actively going on since the 1990s, destroying nearly 90% of the forest along the Seshachalam range, which commences from the internationally known pilgrim centre, Tirupati, to the northern tip of Kadapa district, Nallamala forests in Kurnool and Prakasam districts in the Eastern Ghats, abutting Nellore district. Consequences include frequent droughts due to reduced and irregular visits of monsoons. Text is presented in readable Telugu language for those who cannot follow English. In the process of checking the smuggling, the Forest Dept. staff and the Task Force Police came to be attacked by smugglers, and even by coolies. Surprisingly, neither the police nor the Forest Dept. staff had shooting power. Hence, the smuggling is still going on, though we get a reduced number of press reports. Not only different corners of India, but countries like Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and Malaysia are also involved in this nefarious activity. Appendices and photocopies of pictures are provided in the end pages of the book for clarity. It is research work.

Professor Padmaraju Yenadi Raju, MA PhD from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He taught MA, IAS, MPhil, and PhD scholars and guided research for MPhil and PhD degrees at the parent University. He has authored and edited 20 post-graduate and research level books, including this one. He has also published 50+ research papers. He addressed Refresher Courses and Orientation Programmes at the parent University, and at Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, and Kakatiya Univerity in present Telangana state.
Post-retirement, he served as a guest professor at Hyderabad Central University, and guest professor and Head of the Dept. of History, Archaeology & Culture in Dravidian University, Kuppam. He has been the convener and editor for Indian government research project on the revision of India’s freedom movement – Andhra Pradesh Chapter and again taught MA Tourism classes till 2016. He was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award from his parent university on 28th November 2018.

“Smuggling of Red Sanders” is available on Amazon, Flipkart, Shopclues and BlueRose.