Fires in 92 community forests in Salyan in 20 days

16 people have been injured while extinguishing the fire. Due to the fire, 27 thousand 483 small plants and millions of herbs, drinking water pipes and orange orchards were destroyed by fire, while the house was destroyed by fire and the damage was more than 50 million.

According to the data of Division Forest Office Salyan and Police, there were 28 fires in Bangad Kupinde Municipality, 14 in Sharda Municipality, 9 in Kapurkot, 12 in Kumakh, 17 in Kalimati, 10 in Chhatreswari, 1 in Tribeni and 1 in Siddukmak Rural Municipality. The fire damaged 4,003 in Bangad, 545 in Sharda Municipality, 314 in Kapurkot, 112 in Kumakh, 119 in Kalimati, 813 in Chhatreswari, 33 in Tribeni, and 8 hectares in Siddhakumakh Rural Municipality.

In Kapurkot Rural Municipality, 1 Garpa, 3 Pakhapani and 6 Rajaikhola, 8 houses, an orange orchard, Chhatreswari Rural Municipality 4 Jaichour and 7 Rawatgaon, 12 houses, 5 Chiura and 11 houses in Bangad Kupide Municipality, three houses, a temple, 700 meters water pipe District Police Office Salyan said that it was destroyed by fire.

While fighting the fire, 16 people were injured, two cattle died and all the injured have returned home after treatment, District Police Office Salyan police chief Pranau Navin Karki said. According to him, daily settlements are under high risk due to fires. He said that due to the fire in the forest, so far the damage to houses has been more than 50 million.

Due to the fire in 91 community forests across the district, 27 thousand 483 small plants have died and millions of herbs have been destroyed, said Jitendra Mahat, head of Division Forest Office Salyan. He informed that not only the wild animals but also the residents of the district were affected due to the pollution of the environment.

According to him, there are two/three fires in the community forest every day. A team of local forest consumers, Nepali army, police, armed police and forest staff have been extinguishing the fire. In order to completely remove Salla's safflower from the forest because it grows ground grass that can be eaten by cattle, it has been difficult to bring it under complete control when the consumers secretly set fire to the forest saying that the burnt safflower will become manure.

The chiefs of the range posts in different municipalities of the district have said that action will be taken if arson is found in the forest, but it is difficult to identify the person who started the fire because it is done secretly. They informed that consumers have been using traditional materials to extinguish forest fires.