Wildfires destroy Salyan forests
Wildfires destroy Salyan forests
12 May 2013
published by www.ekantipur.com
Nepal — Around 250 hectares of forest area has been destroyed due to fires in six community forests in five VDCsChade, Sarpani, Garpa, Hiwalcha and Sejawaltakurain the district for the past three days.
Locals, however, doused fires in two of the forests while they said they are finding it hard to put out infernos fuelled by strong winds in other forests.
A person injured while dousing the fire is undergoing treatment at the District Hospital. Chandra Bahadur Rokka, a member of Sayapatri Community Forest Users Group at Chade said resin collected from pine trees worth thousands of rupees was burnt down. Lalit Raut, chairman of the Buiyadevi Community Forest Users Group at Hiwalcha, said the wildfire has posed risk to nearby settlements. Forest guard Tej Bahadur Shahi said herders may have lighted the fires. Gyanendra Kumar Mishra, chief of the District Forest Office, said they plan to launch an awareness campaign.
