In what locals describe as a ‘film-style’ operation, scores of trees in Gaurighat Community Forest of Kaluwapur in ward 7 of Krishnapur Municipality were felled within little more than an hour on November 27.

The rapid destruction has left nearly 10 hectares of forestland barren, raising suspicions of an organised attempt to grab community land—an issue that has plagued Kanchanpur district for years.

The community forest lies between gravel roads on all sides. Although tree-cutting had occurred sporadically in the past—often for firewood, funeral rites, weddings, picnics and traditional ceremonies—the scale and speed of the recent felling shocked residents.

The Gaurighat Community Forest has long suffered from weak institutional oversight. Even when the ward office was built inside the forest, or when the basic health post now under construction began taking shape, the office bearers of the community forest were not informed. The forest users’ committee also never objected to such construction. Elected representatives, too, never felt the need to consult the community forest committee before allowing physical infrastructure inside its boundary.

“This forest has always been like this—people used to cut one or two trees whenever needed. For rituals or emergencies, everyone took firewood from here,” said Rajendra Awasthi, secretary of the Gaurighat Community Forest Users’ Committee. “The committee had been inactive for two to three years, no meetings were held, and the forest was practically abandoned.” According to him, they still have no information about who cut down the trees this time or who took them away.

Once dense with sisau (Indian rosewood), khayar (catechu) and kanju (velvet apple) trees, the forest now appears almost deserted. Only a handful of trees remain along the edges, while the interior resembles abandoned farmland.

According to locals, the felling began around midday and lasted barely over an hour. “Dozens of people were chopping trees at once—some carried the logs away, others left them on the ground,” said a resident who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. “It looked like a scene straight out of a movie.”

Kumari Bohora, chairperson of Gaurighat Community Forest Users’ Committee, said she had no prior information. She had travelled to Dhangadhi, the headquarters of Sudurpaschim province, on the morning of the incident. “When I returned in the evening, the forest was already destroyed. We don’t know who did it or why. We are still trying to find out,” she said.

Suspicion has deepened due to the silence of the authorities. The ward 7 office itself lies within the forest boundary, yet elected representatives claim they were unaware of the felling. Staff at the nearby Sub-Division Forest Office said they only learned about the incident after photos went viral on social media.

“It was the police who informed us the next day. The fact that neither people’s representatives nor forest employees knew about such a large-scale daylight raid is extremely suspicious,” said Suresh Chandra DC, chief of the Division Forest Office in Kanchanpur. “It looks like a coordinated effort involving both locals and political actors. If that’s not the case, why didn’t anyone speak up despite the ward office being right there?”

DC alleged that the motive was not firewood but land capture. Kanchanpur has a long history of organised encroachment, including by land mafia who target forest fringes. Similar attempts have escalated in Mohana riverbank settlements where community forests were gradually pushed back under the pretext of settling squatter families.

Following the incident, the Division Forest Office has assigned Bharat Shah, chief of the Sub-Division Forest Office in Bani, as the investigation officer. “We have already taken statements from the committee chair and secretary and we are questioning others as well,” Shah said. Police have recovered part of the cut timber. “We have seized 61 trunks of khayar timber measuring 101.55 cubic feet and 41 trunks of sisau measuring 81.03 cubic feet. More timber is still missing,” said Shah.

According to Shah, a total of 164 trees were felled—135 khayar trees with trunk diameters between 16 and 84 inches, 28 sisau trees ranging from 24 to 64 inches, and one kanju tree. “This is not about timber alone. This appears to be an attempt to capture community forest land. Many people in the village are unwilling to talk. Even committee members hesitate to speak,” he said.

The Gaurighat Community Forest was established through plantation efforts by locals along the Mohana riverbank in 1998. The forest was formally registered and handed over to the community in 2006.

Locals say that for the past three years, the committee has not held an annual general meeting or convened a meeting. Even the previous committee was largely inactive, contributing to weak governance and leaving the forest vulnerable.

Recently, preparations have been underway to open a technical college in the area with an investment of around Rs1.5 billion. Krishnapur Municipality has conducted several rounds of studies and inspections for the project. Forest officials say that with land prices expected to rise once the technical college is established, the land mafia may have orchestrated the mass felling to seize the forest land.

Incidents of large-scale tree felling often occur during periods of political instability. Earlier, during political transitions, there were attempts to clear the Chure forests along the Dadeldhura-Kanchanpur border and to encroach on forest land in Dundejhari of Kailali. Officials suspect that the mafia may have seized a similar opportunity in the latest Gaurighat forest clearance as well.