Forest fires in various districts of the western development region this year have claimed five lives so far. Among them, four of the victims were from Gulmi, while the remaining was from Arghakhanchi district.
According to Bishal Ghimire, officer at the District Forest Office (DFO), Gulmi, the dead include Kamal Khadka of Malagiri, Lok Bahadur Gurung and Tulashi Lama Gurung of Ishmadoholi, and Mehar Singh Rajkoti of Badagaun.
Likewise, the DFO of Arghakhanchi identified the victim from the district as Makhmali BK of Dhatiwang VDC. BK had died in a forest fire on April 25.
Forest fires have destroyed about 4,651 hectares of forest so far in Gulmi and about 12,764 hectares of forest in Arghakhanchi.
Similarly, forest fires have destroyed about 17,000 hectares areas in Rupandehi, 10,000 hectares in Gorkha, and 4,000 hectares in Palpa district. Thousands of hectares of forest areas have also been destroyed by fires in Kaski, Tanahun, Myagdi, and Parbat districts, according to the regional forest directorate.
“This is just a rough sketch. We do not have exact and detailed data on the losses from forest fires,” said Rajendra Singh Bhandari, chief of the regional forest doctorate. “All we can say is that most of the districts in the western region are plagued by forest fires. The forest fires started from mid-April and will not end until the monsoon starts,” he added.
Meanwhile, experts have pointed out that increasing forest fires could raise the risk of dry landslides, which have been known to cause human causalities time and again.
“There are high risks of boulders rolling down from higher places after forest fires. Hence, settlements below high cliffs and those who are travelling in such places should remain alert,” said Krishna KC, professor of environment science at the Prithivi Narayan Campus in Pokhara, said. “There may not be big landslides, but small boulders and stones may fall continuously for some time after forest fires,” he added.
-Republica
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