Govt silent?
Govt silent?
05 April 2010
published by thehimalayantimes.com
Nepal — Kathmandu: Despite the ever increasing incidents of wildfire, the government is paying little attention to prevent the loss of natural resources. To make things worse, the government lacks policies and programmes on preventive measures and on disaster preparedness. The number of wildfire cases reached the highest in March-April this year as compared to the same period last year. Sundar Prasad Sharma, a wildfire expert said, If wildfires continue in this rate, I am sure they will rage through tens of thousands of hectares of forest land by mid-April. The country had witnessed wildfire in 420 different areas on a single day in April-May 2009. According to Sharma, who is also the convener of South Asian Forum for Wildfire Control, wildfires in 142 areas raged through the forest and human settlements on Saturday alone. At least 30,000 hectares of forest area have been destroyed in the country in the past three weeks, he said. Madhav Acharya, Director General at the Department of Forest, said they were using all-out efforts to prevent and fight wildfires.
