Rautahat, May 20 -- 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 firew...