Nilambur: Trunks of centuries old Rosewood trees stocked at Aruvacode Forest Depot in Nilambur were sold for Rs 26.9 lakhs in the e-auction held last week. The biggest trunks were bought for carving musical instruments like violin while the smaller ones were bought by furniture manufacturers.

These trees were sourced from the Ezhuthukal plantation. Trees which had been uprooted are collected and sent to the Forest Depot for auctioning. 102 trunks in total were sold at the e-auction. These tree trunks were arranged in 29 lots depending on their size. Some lots included one huge tree trunk but others comprised upto 10 pieces.

The logs totalled 23 cu.m and many of the trunks belonged to the C1 category ( classification based on quality of wood). Logs with middle girth above 185 cm which is considered as export quality measuring 6.3 cubic metres collected a total of Rs 12 lakhs. According to Depot Range Officer Devika Sanghamithra, all the Rosewood trees collected from the Palakkad, Malappuram and Nilambur areas are sent to the Aruvacode Forest Depot. They have garnered buyers from other states as well, such as Karnataka.