Visakhapatnam: According to reports, cadre of CPI (Maoist) party have once again taken up the distribution of coffee plantations among tribals in Visakhapatnam Agency. The Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) has 4,000 hectares of coffee plantations in the tribal belt. Over the last ten years, the Maoists have distributed around 700 hectares of plantations among tribals.

Recently, some Maoist leaders had given a strong warning to divisional manager (DM) rank officer of APFDC in Pansaloddi village surroundings. They allegedly warned the DM against venturing into coffee plantations and threatened that otherwise him and his officers might face dire consequences.

In 2012, an APFDC ranger— Majji Madhava Rao was killed by Maoists at Lankapakalu estate in GK Veedhi mandal.

The Maoists had started distribution of coffee plantations among tribals in 2008. At that point in time, they distributed around 600 acres (256 hectares) at Marripakalu and Kumkumpudi estates at RV Nagar in GK Veedhi mandal. Now, it is being alleged that the Maoists once again plan to distribute the remaining APFDC plantations.

APFDC has around 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of coffee plantations in five divisions in the tribal belt in Visakhapatnam. In GK Veedhi mandal, the coffee plantations are spread across 1,910 hectares while in Chintapalli mandal, coffee plantations are spread across 1000 hectares.

Speaking to TOI, managing director, APFDC said, “We don’t have access to 700-800 hectares out of the 4000 hectares. We are unable to harvest the crop in estates like Balapam and Siribala. We have been spending between Rs 16 crore to Rs 20 crore every year on managing the coffee plantations.” He further said that the corporation only earns around Rs 5 to Rs 7 crore in revenue every year.

According to sources, APFDC only gets 350-370 tonnes of yield every year through these plantations. Earlier, the corporation would get around 700-800 tonnes. However, the yield has come down owing to various conditions. The corporation has been losing Rs 8 to Rs 10 crore every year.

