Large quantities of valuable sal (Shorea robusta) timber lie abandoned and overrun by shrubs near the Lamaha bridge on the East-West Highway in Madhesh province. Despite their high market value, these logs are rotting due to failures in government management and auction processes, which has led to a substantial loss of revenue.

Across all eight districts of the province, an estimated 210,000 cubic feet of timber remains unsold in various Division Forest Offices. Much of this wood, some of it collected years ago, has begun to decay. Officials say if the timber had been auctioned in time, the government could have collected at least Rs500 million in revenue.

In a recent incident, 22 piles of logs and 11 stacks of firewood stored at the Gaindatar sub-division forest in ward 3 of Chandrapur Municipality in Rautahat district, were destroyed by wildfire a month ago. Locals say these losses could have been avoided if the auctions had been conducted in a timely manner.

"Back in 2019, when trees were felled to construct the 400 KV Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Duhabi transmission line, the felled timber was stacked near the highway. Five years on, it is still lying there, rotting," said Hemant Sah, the chief of the Division Forest Office, Rautahat. About 100,000 cubic feet of timber—including sal and mixed hardwoods—and 127 firewood bundles were collected at that time in Rautahat, Sah confirmed.

While some firewood was sent to Pashupati Aryaghat for cremation purposes, 127 piles were auctioned last year at Rs70,000 per pile, fetching around Rs8.89 million. However, the contractor failed to pay, and the wood was left to rot. "If the process had gone through smoothly, the government would have earned Rs3.8 million just from that lot," Sah said.

The rotting logs are not just limited to Rautahat. Across the province, logs seized from illegal logging or left behind from various forest clearance projects remain unmanaged. Some of these logs have been stored for more than two decades in the Division Forest compounds. Legal complications—especially unresolved court cases—have prevented their auction.

In one such case, during the tenure of former forest officer in Rautahat Arjun KC, a contractor tried to convert sal logs into firewood under the guise of debris collection. "We intercepted about 4,000 cubic feet of illegally processed wood, which is now completely unusable due to decay," Sah said. Similar losses were recorded in the Balari forest area, where Sal logs stored along with their transport trolleys have rotted beyond use.

According to the Forest Office records, around 10,000 cubic feet of timber have decayed in Rautahat since 2005. Even the wood stored at the residences of forest officers and office compounds is in deteriorating condition. Legal experts say timber involved in court cases cannot be auctioned without court’s approval.

"Logs seized in connection with court cases can’t be auctioned without judicial clearance," said Sah. "In some cases, even after publishing auction notices multiple times, no bidders came forward, and eventually, the timber started to decay."

Uddhav Ghimire, secretary of provincial Forest Ministry in Madhesh also highlighted the legal bottleneck. "According to the Forest Act, cases must be settled by forest officers appointed by the federal government. But with many now under provincial administration, there’s confusion over jurisdiction," Ghimire said. "This lack of legal clarity is the main reason why auction orders aren’t being issued."

To get around this, some forest officers have begun coordinating with judges to obtain auction orders from the court, Ghimire added. But he admitted this is not a sustainable solution. “If legal provisions clearly empower forest officers to resolve such cases, most of these problems would be solved,” he said.

The legal delays have had significant environmental and economic repercussions. According to the Office of the Auditor General, Nepal imported timber and wood products worth Rs2.33 billion in fiscal year 2020-21, Rs 7.99 billion in 2021-22, and Rs 6.4 billion in 2022-23. Meanwhile, valuable Sal logs at home are decaying.

"Timber dealers have been importing logs, sawn wood, plywood, and window and door frames from countries like China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Ukraine," said Kathmandu-based timber businessman Raju Mainali. "Three to four years ago, we sold sal logs at Rs3,200 to Rs3,500 per cubic foot and sawn wood at Rs5,000. Now sales are down, and even imported logs are getting scarcer."

According to Karna Thokar, another dealer, the failure to auction domestic timber has undermined Nepal’s goal of becoming self-sufficient in wood. "Rotting wood is a massive loss of national resources. Yet the government has allowed timber imports instead of managing local stock," he said.

The Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track construction project of the Nepal Army has also added to the backlog. Trees felled in Bara and Makawanpur during land clearing for the fast track are still unprocessed. "We handed over logs to the relevant forest offices about 10 months ago, but they are still lying idle," said Birendra Yadav, Officer at the Division Forest Office, Bara. “In Tamagadhi alone, a large quantity of timber is rotting.”

Sunita Adhikari, Ranger in Bara, said 2,286 logs and 386 pieces of sawn timber seized since 2015 are awaiting resolution. "We also have over 120,000 cubic feet of forest-managed timber still waiting to be auctioned," Yadav added.

Division Forest Chief Binod Singh from Dhanusha emphasised the broader implications. “Forests cover 45.31 percent of Nepal’s land area and play a vital role in economic and environmental development,” he said. “Timely auctioning and utilisation of forest products can create jobs and generate income.”

However, Singh also admitted that due to procedural delays, auctions have not been conducted on time. “Recently, some forest chiefs have begun seeking court orders to expedite the process,” he added.

According to Uddhav Dhodar, registrar at the Rautahat district court, while timber-related cases are few, the backlog is mainly due to outdated legal procedures and confusion over jurisdiction. Until these legal and administrative issues are resolved, millions of rupees' worth of timber in Nepal’s forests may continue to rot away.