District Forest Office (DFO) of Surkhet has arrested 13 persons on the charge of timber smuggling in the recent months. The DFO has also seized 200 cubic feet of timber from them. [break]
"Many more timber smugglers have escaped our raids," Acting District Forest Officer of Surkhet Mun Bahadur Rawat told Republica. He said that the DFO has failed to check rampant timber smuggling due to lack of manpower.
On July 16, the MoFSC had slapped a ban on timber trade following reports of massive deforestation across the country. After the ban, timber trade has been hit hard in Surkhet. However, the timber smuggling continues unabated.
In Surkhet, after the ban on timber trade, 70,000 cubic feet of timber, the tender process of which is already over, remains unused.
According to Timber Traders Association of Nepal, timber traders have already paid Rs 50 million to various community forest user groups in Surkhet. However, due to the ban, they have not been able to sell the timber.
On the other hand, timber price has skyrocketed following the ban. "Prior to the ban, prices of timber were fixed," a saw mill owner said. "Now, only smuggled timber is in market, and hence is expensive."
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