Kathmandu, April 11
Wildfires have been raging in different parts of Nepal for the last few days, destroying forests spread in 13, 00, 000 hectares — 20 per cent of Nepal’s forest land — in course of a week.
In most parts of the country, these fires have been uncontrollable, putting huge swathes of forest land in danger. These fires will surely destroy hundreds of hectares of forest if there’s no rainfall. As of Sunday evening, fire has been spreading in 229 forest areas of the country.
According to the Department of Forests, fires have been raging in Central and Western Development Regions, causing huge losses.
Due to prolonged drought and high winds, wildfires have been raging beyond control, says Resham Bahadur Dangi, director-general at the department. This year, forests in Sindhuli have already suffered huge losses. These blazes have already destroyed 40 per cent of Sindhuli’s forest cover, according to Dangi.
Forests in the Marin region of Sindhuli have suffered the most, says Dangi. “Fires have spread in settlements and destroyed 40 houses. Due to treacherous terrain, we have not been able to control these blazes.”
Arghakhanchi, which lies in Western Nepal, is another district where wildfires have been spreading. The blazes have already destroyed 20 per cent of the district’s forest cover. They have gutted 600 cu feet of timber in Siddhara.
Wildfires have been raging in more than 200 forests dotting the stretch between the Kapilvastu-Arghakhanchi border and central Nepal.
Rupandehi district, also in Western Nepal, is also under the grip of fire. In the bordering Nawalparasi district, fires have engulfed more than 100 hectares of forest land. Similar is the situation in the bordering Chitwan district.
Fires cause the country huge losses during the dry season. Like in previous years, the government seems ill-prepared to fight these fires.
“Our hands are empty. Even water bags (each having the capacity of 20 litres), which we distributed earlier in the Terai, have fallen into disuse,” Dangi says.
In such a distressing situation, there seems to be no other option but to try to extinguish the flames using tree branches, the traditional firefighting ‘technique.’ The department says Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been providing them huge help in controlling the fire.
As wildfires continue to cause huge losses, there’s no other option but to pray for rainfall, it appears.
