Forest fires have spread into settlements in Bhojpur and Khotang districts, destroying houses, cowsheds, and a school, the state-owned RSS reported.
In Bhojpur Municipality-12, a fire originating from the Iname Community Forest engulfed the settlement, destroying eight houses and an equal number of cowsheds, RSS reported citing Yubraj Timilsina, chief of the District Police Office.
According to the national news agency, strong winds made it difficult to contain the blaze. The fire reduced to ashes the cowshed of Sambhu Chapagain, the house and cowshed of Sobhit Banset, the house of Goma Darji, the house and cowshed of Ram Bahadur Karki, the cowshed of Gopi Krishna Dhamala, the house and cowshed of Rudra Prasad Dhakal, the house of Shekhar Dhamala, the cowshed of Tirtha Prasad Subedi, the house of Chandra Prasad Subedi, the house and cowshed of Ram Bahadur Dhakal, and the cowshed of Govinda Chapagain. Firefighters, security personnel, and locals are working to bring the fire under control by the time this news was prepared.
In another incident, a fire in Ramprasad Rai Rural Municipality-4 destroyed more than five houses. Meanwhile, in Khotang district, a forest fire from Balchhikhola Community Forest spread to Halesi Tuwachung Municipality-2, destroying five houses. The affected homeowners include Adame Rai, Nagendra Rai, Hirasher Rai, Pirti Bahadur Rai, Rana Bahadur Rai, Abindra Rai, and Hiradhan Rai. Balkanya Basic School also suffered damage. Authorities are still assessing the full extent of the losses, and efforts are ongoing to control the fire, ward chairperson Devendra Rai told RSS.
Meanwhile, in Kavrepalanchok district, efforts are underway to contain a forest fire that started at Gorakhnath Community Forest in Bethanchok Rural Municipality. The fire, which broke out at 11 p.m. on Sunday, has been burning by the time this news was prepared.
Ward chairperson Kuber Dhakal stated that police, local representatives, Forest Users’ Committee members, and residents have been battling the fire since Monday morning. Immediate containment was delayed as the fire started at night.
Although the nearest settlement is about a kilometer away, the blaze threatens a drinking water project supplying Thalidanda and Harkabhanjyang. If the fire spreads leftward, nearby homes could be at risk, RSS reported. No human or animal casualties have been reported so far.
Wildfires become rampant in the forests across Nepal with the onset of the dry season. According to available data, large areas of forestland have been destroyed in bushfires every year.
Seventy-seven people on average have been killed every year in Nepal due to forest and other fire-related incidents, according to government data.
Between 2014 and mid-March 2023, altogether 18,772 fire incidents took place in the country in which at least 769 people were killed and 2,548 injured, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority. Financial loss amounting to over Rs 22.23 billion took place during the same period.
