Palpa. Due to the prolonged drought, most of the forests in the district have started catching fire. So far, the fires that have broken out in 36 community and government forests here have destroyed an area of 711 hectares.
Most of the new plants in the forest areas here have been reduced to ashes by fire. The forest fires that have increased day by day have reduced new plants from the past two years to ashes, according to the Division Forest Office in the district. The fire has also destroyed adult and old trees, said the head of the office, Narayan Dev Bhattarai.
The forest areas have become deserted due to the fires that have increased with the onset of Chait. Chief Bhattarai said that the fires in the forest are spreading quickly because the trees and plants have now turned green and the old leaves that have been shed have dried up. He urged everyone to be on high alert as the increasing number of fires in the forest area has destroyed trees and plants and also put nearby settlements at high risk of fire.
Locals say that the fires have spread more due to the lack of winter rain this year. Recalling past experiences of trees and plants shedding leaves due to winter rains, residents near the forest area say that the fires have become serious by mid-Chaitum due to the lack of winter rains this year.
Citizens of settlements near the forest are especially worried when a fire breaks out. Locals are worried because they fear that the forest fire will reach their homes. Spring and summer are considered particularly dangerous times for wildfires. Wildfires can destroy the lush greenery of the year-round forest in an instant. Forest Chief Bhattarai mentioned that the incidents of forest fires have increased with the onset of summer this year as well.
For the past few days, forest fires have been raging in the Khulkhule Community Forest of Jhumsa in Tinau Rural Municipality-3, Odharkhola, Saragkhola near Basantapur in Jhumsa, Kamlettari in Kachal, Masina, Siddhachuhar, Tarule Community Forest, Jhingamara, Ringsing Forest, forests near Suketal and Khursane in Tinau Rural Municipality-2, Rimigha Danda Forest under Rambha Rural Municipality, Palung Community Forest of Ribdikot Rural Municipality, among others, according to the Division Forest Office in the district.
Arunkhola Forest in Jyamire in Nisdi, Jyamire in Chief Bhattarai of the office informed that fires have also broken out in places such as Webhoke, Batasa, Mathekharka, Chhetrikharka, Mathagadhi Rahas, Hattilung. According to him, although the locals here have succeeded in saving the settlements, there have been human losses, damage to the forest, some houses and physical structures.
Noting that one person has died while extinguishing the forest fire so far, Chief Bhattarai said that 16 houses have been burned. He said that despite efforts to control the fire in the community forest, there is a problem that the fire does not completely go out and is rekindled by the wind. He informed that the most affected areas are Tinau, Ribdikot, Baganaskali, Tansen and Rainadevi Chhahara in the district.
Most of the forest fire-affected areas are located near settlements. The locals are unable to sleep at night due to the fear that the wind and storm will spread the fire to those settlements at any time. Bhima Karki of Ribdikot said that she cannot sleep at night due to the fires that break out every year.
‘Last year, a fire in a nearby forest had spread to the settlement. Although the settlement was barely saved from the fire, the repeated fires have made it difficult to sleep at night,’ she said. Karki said that the fire is still burning here, “Before, my neighbor’s house burned down, and I still worry about whether my own house will burn down. No one knows what to do in the face of disaster.”
Karki, who has been living alone at home, said that she has become increasingly worried due to the increasing fire. She says that she has to remember God every day. It is reported that the Division Forest Office, its subordinate offices, the Community Forest Users Federation, Community Forests, locals, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and local bodies have been trying to control the fire on a daily basis, but they have not been successful.
The Division Forest Office has stated that the fire has gone out of control due to the dry weather, strong winds, and the topography of the Chure and Mahabharata regions.
Although firefighters extinguished the fire near the settlement, the forest fire could not be controlled, informed the Forest Office Chief Bhattarai. According to him, out of the 81 wards of 10 local levels of Palpa, 39 wards are at high risk of forest fires, while 26 wards are at medium risk and 16 wards are at low risk. .
Bhattrai informed that work is underway to create fire lines in the forests of Palpa and to clean up existing fire lines to control fires. ‘As the number of fire incidents has increased with the onset of the summer season, the Forest Office has intensified the work of creating fire lines, taking precautions to control fires,’ he said.
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