Having embarked on a mission to rein in the black market for sandalwood, the Forest Department’s retail sandalwood sale has evoked an encouraging response. Around 20 kg of sandalwood has already been sold since the launch of the initiative a month ago.
Drifting away from the practice of restricting the sale of sandalwood through auctions usually held at Marayur twice a year, the department began its retail sale through its six timber depots for the first time. On offer are three classes of sandalwood — Class 14 (Sapwood billets) priced at ₹1,250/kg, Class 6 (Bagradad) priced at ₹17,500, and Class 4 (Ghotla) priced at ₹19,500.
While the sapwood variety is used for preparing sandal paste, which is given away as ‘prasadam’ in temples, the other superior types were generally used for making sculptures. As opposed to the others, sapwood billets has no fragrance and contain only 1% oil content.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of the Forest Force P.K. Kesavan said the initiative enabled the Forest Department to prevent illegal collection of the regulated tree species. “Barring a few major temples such as Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple, most temples found it impractical to purchase large quantities through the auctions at Marayur. As a result, they were forced to use synthetic materials or rely on illegal sources. The retail sale of sandalwood will enable the consumers to overcome the compulsion to approach the black market,” he said.
Six depots
The initial stock of 10.08 kg of sapwood billets was exhausted quickly and the officials were required to bring an additional 100 kg of the variety from Marayur. The costlier varieties of Bagradad. and Ghotla witnessed 7 kg and 1 kg of sale respectively. The sale was being conducted at the depots in Kulathupuzha, Konni, Veettoor, Parappa, Kannoth, and Chaliyam.
While individuals could possess up to 1 kg as per the Kerala Forests Act, temples, licensed artisans, and companies manufacturing indigenous medicines are permitted to store greater quantities.
Mr. Kesavan said the increasing demand had necessitated extension of retail sale to more depots, especially those under the Palakkad and Kozhikode divisions.
