HFDC adopts e-aution portal developed by Maharashtra

Sushil Manav

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3

Following recommendations by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Haryana Forest Development Corporation (HFDC) has decided to go ahead with adopting the e-auction portal developed by the Maharashtra Forest Department for bringing transparency in auction of its timber.

So far selling trees felled by logging activities in the state is being done through open auction, which, according to sources, lacks transparency, as sometimes all contractors are not properly informed about the activity and quality of timber is changed after the auction to benefit handpicked contractors.

Arun Saraf, chairman of the HFDC, confirmed that the corporation had decided to adopt the e-auction portal developed by the Maharashtra Forest Department recommended by the MoEFCC.

“I have myself seen the demonstration given by the authorised service provider (ASP) of e-auction portal and found it worthy of adopting,” said Saraf.

Sources said in its letter dated March 26, the MoEFCC had written to the State Forest Department informing it about the e-auction portal and also about transparency brought by the state Forest Development of Maharashtra in auctioning of timber, bamboo and even scrap material after adopting it.

The portal not only does the auction online, but also keeps record of the timber from felled trees in coupe to their disposal in the depot.

Sources said logging of trees and their subsequent action by the state Forest Department had always been under cloud of suspicion.

Presently, logging in 11 districts of the state is being done by the HFDC, while in the rest of the districts it is still being done by the state Forest Department.

Sources said that in order to bring transparency and streamline the process of felling of trees, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had issued written orders in August last year abolishing the production wing of the Forest Department and assigning all logging and auction related activities to the HFDC.

However, for reasons best known to it, the Forest Department is yet to implement the order, though it did not waste any time to implement Khattar’s another order to abolish the community forestry wing issued in December last year.

The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), SM Somashekar, could not be contacted for his comments.

Saraf, however, said the HFDC was going to get felling work of five more districts from Tuesday and the other district would also shift to the corporation very soon.