20150121 Nepal Wildfire rages in community forest
Nepal Jan 21 2015 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Wildfire rages in community forest
Updated: 2015-01-21-22:49
OKHALDHUNGA: Wildfire has been raging in Mahabhir Hariyali Community Forest in Baruneshwor of Okhaldhunga and efforts to tame it have failed so far.
According to community forest Chairman Ramesh Karki, almost 250 hectare forest area is likely to be destroyed due to the wildfire that has been continuously spreading for the past two days.
“The authorities did not bother to act on time to control the fire when we informed them. The wildfire is now spreading to the nearby Raniban Community Forest as well,” Karki informed.
According to sources at district police office, attempts to control the wildfire have been hampered by the difficult topography and lack of easy availability of water in the vicinity.
Security personnel of Nepali Army and Nepal Police have been deployed along with the locals to control the wildfire, which has destroyed a great deal of precious herbs and wildlife habitat.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Meanwhile, locals have urged the authorities to step up their efforts to tame the fire to avoid any further damage to resources and to save the human settlement inside the forest.
Web Source: The Himalayan Times
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Wildfire+rages+in+community+forest+&NewsID=441925