Himachal mulls new policy to auction timber

Shimla :Himachal Pradesh’s forest department is considering a policy of auctioning felled and grounded trees by chopping them into small round logs instead of long sleepers which are triple the size.

State forest minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said Tuesday this would help the state forest corporation auctioning cut trees at roadsides instead of forest depots and help save transportation and other costs.

The forest minister said the forest department had also decided to fence government forest boundaries with cement poles instead of wooden poles.

The state government has also decided to export excess timber.

Bhamouri claimed the area under forests had gone up by 4 per cent to 66.5 per cent in the state. The Forest Survey of India had published the latest forest cover.