Smugglers plunder Bangalore University’s sandalwood riches, one tree at a time

Sandalwood smugglers have been making hay at Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus, chopping down and carting away trees at will and making a mockery of “tight” security and surveillance measures.

If a senior syndicate member is to be believed, at least 25 sandalwood trees have gone missing from the campus in the last two months. Two of them were stolen from the Biology Department premises on a single day in October.

University authorities say there are helpless because members of the public have “unhindered” access to the campus.

The issue came up for discussion at the syndicate meeting on Tuesday.

The senior member told DH later: “As per our information, the university has lost 25-30 sandalwood trees in the last two months. When we raised this issue at the syndicate meeting, the vice-chancellor said he is helpless because the public has access to the campus.”

The university is estimated to have no less than 6,000 sandalwood trees, most of them in the biopark located behind the Environmental Science Department and adjacent to the Sports Authority of India (SAI). A few dozen trees are scattered elsewhere on the campus.

While most parts of the campus are surveilled by cameras and watched by private as well as home guards, the biopark area has scant CCTV coverage. “The biopark is surrounded by thick trees, so it’s difficult to instal CCTV cameras there,” a university official conceded.

University authorities are certain that thieves use battery-operated, noiseless wood-cutting machines and don’t usually cart away the parts immediately. They let the trees dry so that they become light and can be carried easily a few days later. The trees are just about five inches wide at the base. Each tree yields four to six feet of sandal.

University authorities are also certain that insiders and habitual offenders are involved. That’s because most of the thefts have happened at night.

It would be hard for outsiders or rookies to venture into the campus after 9 pm when it’s out of bounds for the public, they say.

Complaints made to the Jnanabharathi police haven’t helped.

Despite the regular thefts, the university authorities have no data about the total number of sandalwood trees that have gone missing in the past few years.

A few years ago, the university had decided to task the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited with maintaining sandalwood trees on the campus but the plan was never implemented.

The syndicate member quoted above said that another 300 sandalwood plants would grow into trees in the next three months. “We are worried about their safety,” the member said.

Jyothi K, Registrar (Administration), BU, said: “First, we need to be strict in giving the public access to the campus. We should adopt a system like at the IISc where visitors entering the campus must display their identity card and enter their personal details in a register.

"Second, we are in talks with the Institute of Wood Science and Technology to instal chips in sandalwood trees and number each of them. Once that is done, the head of the department where the trees are located will get an alert if any attempt is made to cut down and cart away the trees," she said.

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