More than 5,000 forest fires in ten months

Kathmandu-  A total of 5,130 incidents of wild fire have taken place in a period of about ten months. The first month in the Lunar calendar i.e. Baisakh alone saw the occurrence of 3,270 fire incidents, according to statistics of the Department of Forest and Land Conservation.

There was not a single incident of forest fire in the month of Saun, only one fire incident in Bhadau, three in Asoj, five in Kartik, 35 in Mangsir and 103 incidents in Poush. Similarly, there were 83 fire incidents in Magh and 206 in Falgun. With the start of the dry season, the incidents of wildfires increased to 1,424 in Chait and to 3,270 in Baisakh. Until the end of the month of Baisakh, there have been 5,130 fire incidents till, says the Department.

Officer at the department, Gobinda Shrestha, said that lack of resources, adequate preparation and training are the major hurdles in addressing the increasing number of wildfires in the country. Coordination between government agencies and other stakeholders is necessary for fire control. Sundar Sharma, an expert on wildfires, says there are usually around 2,500 fire incidents in Nepal every year. “Eighty percent of fire incidents occur in the four months from mid-Falgun to mid-Jetha.