Finance department urges forest officials to auction off piled up wooden logs at depots

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala finance department has instructed to auction off the piled up wooden logs in the depots of the forest department, in order to accumulate treasury funds. As per the calculations, wooden logs amounting to Rs 150 crore are stocked across the 28 depots of the forest department. In a meeting of the income generating departments, the finance minister instructed the concerned officials to expedite the auctioning of wooden logs and to handover the money in a time bound manner.

Meanwhile, the forest department responded by saying that unfavourable weather conditions have stopped them from conducting auctions in a proper manner so far. The piled up wood includes logs of rosewood and teak.      

Some of the woods have been lying at the depots since 2020. The pandemic has had a considerable impact on the auctioning process. The e-auction of the wooden logs has been deferred up to almost 40 times. It is also said that the high base prices set by the forest officials are preventing the contractors from purchasing the wooden logs.

On the other hand, the forest officials lamented that the finance department is not even allotting stipulated budget shares to them. The forest officials have already brought the issue to the notice of the chief minister. The payments for contractors are also pending. Now, that has to be sanctioned from the treasury. Owing to the delay in payments, contractors are reluctant to transport newly cut wooden logs from the mills to the depots.