Kathmandu. The situation of forest fires in the country is getting worse. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, forest fires are raging in 165 places in 39 districts on Wednesday.
Stakeholders have expressed concern that if there is no rain, forest fires will continue to grow. On the other hand, the Water and Weather Forecasting Division under the Department of Water and Meteorology has said that there will be no rain that will control the fire for now. Govind Jha, a meteorologist of the division, informed that there is a possibility of rain in some parts of the country for the next three days, but there will be no rain so that the fires will be controlled.
He said, “For the next three days, there is a possibility of scattered rains with partial showers in some hilly areas of Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali.” But there is no immediate possibility of rains that will control the forest fires. In other areas, the weather will be clear.
Two people have lost their lives in Lalitpur due to the control of the forest. Shankar Pahari died on Tuesday and Ramesh Pahari died on Wednesday morning while extinguishing a fire in Tapeshwar Community Forest in Godavari Municipality-4 Badikhel.
Sundar Sharma, a fire expert of the Authority, said that it is difficult to control the forest fires due to the lack of rain for a long time and the drought. He said, ‘Even today, the situation of fires in the country has become dire. Due to the geographical difficulty of Nepal, more problems are arising in the control. It hasn’t rained, but the wind has carried the fire and the fire is spreading.
According to him, the districts of Salyan, Surkhet, Kailali, Dailekh, Doti and others have been affected by the fire. He says that he is concerned about how to save lives and human settlements due to forest fires. Sharma informed that 80 houses are burnt every year due to forest fires. According to him, usually around 2,500 fire incidents occur in Nepal every year. , Sharma said, ’80 percent of forest fires occur in four months from mid-February to mid-May. 60% of fire incidents occur only in Chaitra and Baisakh. Because of this, we are now in a time of high risk. Since there are wildfires from mid-February to mid-May, you have to be very cautious during this time. The second week of Baisakh is very hot. During this time, there are more incidents of fire.
Dr. Soni Baral Gowli, a forest expert, said that due to the non-sustainable management of forests, forest fires are also increasing. Theer Prasad Koirala, Forest Officer of Division Forest Office, Lalitpur informed that wild animals attack domesticated animals and also set fire to forests to drive away wild animals. He says that forest fires are increasing due to human causes.
In order to control the forest fires, the Division Forest Office has started a wide public awareness programme. In order to prevent human activities in such incidents, some division forest offices have started installation of CC cameras. According to the Divisional Forest Officer, forest fires occur due to human activities such as lighting cigarettes and throwing cigarette butts in the forest, and pretending that grass is growing in the forest.
The forest expert also suggests to install CCTV cameras and bring those who set fires under the scope of action according to law.
Vijayraj Subedi, Divisional Forest Officer of Kapilvastu, said that the installation of CC cameras has been advanced for control after people deliberately set fire to the forest. He said, “Currently, two CC cameras are being installed. Now we have thought of moving forward with the process of connecting CC cameras as a priority. Otherwise, the activity of going to the forest and setting fire would not stop. It will be easy to bring it into the scope of action.
Similarly, it is said that other Division Forest Offices are also preparing to place CC cameras in forest areas to control such human activities. In addition to this, work has been carried forward to prevent fires by cleaning the forest leaves.
There is a legal system to punish people who set fire to the forest. In Section 49 of the Forest Act 2076, there is a provision of punishment for starting a fire in the national forest or committing any act that may lead to a fire. “The offender shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years or a fine of up to 60,000 rupees or both”, the law states.
The Forest Fire Management Strategy 2067 aims to build and strengthen the policy and institutional structures necessary to manage fires, to mobilize local communities, civil society, government and non-government agencies for fire prevention and control, and to make preparations to obtain advance information about the risks that may occur from fires.
The Forest Fire Management Strategy 2067 aims to build and strengthen the policy and institutional structures necessary to manage fires, to mobilize local communities, civil society, government and non-government agencies for fire prevention and control, and to prepare for advance information on the risks that may arise from fires.
Similarly, it is mentioned in the strategy to expand bilateral and multilateral coordination, cooperation and cooperation to solve environmental problems including internal and international fire disasters and climate change resulting from the positive impact on the ecological system and support the livelihood of local people through the systematic use of fire.
The main goal of the strategy is to limit the loss of people, wealth, forests, biodiversity and ecosystems caused by wildfires by minimizing it, it is helping the productivity of the forest through its proper management. There is a forest fire prevention strategy that includes policy, legal and institutional reforms, amends the policies, laws, rules, guidelines and guidelines related to the forest sector with the involvement of multi-stakeholders, and includes forest management issues, and arranges effective implementation.
In addition, the issue of forest fires will be included in the new forest policies, strategies, laws, rules, guidelines and guidelines (the Ministry of Forestry and Land Protection and the agencies under it by improving the institutional structure and developing a fire management structure or mechanism in coordination with related agencies for the management and control of fire disasters outside the forest area. There is a strategy to be carried out.
However, Thakur Bhandari, President of Community Forest Users Federation (FECOFAN), said that there is a lack of effective implementation of the strategy. He said, “While the fire in the forest was under control, the consumer lost his life.” It is necessary for the government to increase its capacity on how to control fire safely.