BAGLUNG, April 15: Several incidents of wildfire have taken place in the district with the onset of summer, causing losses worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
In the latest fire incident, 330 hectares of forests was destroyed in forest fires, according to the District Division Forest Office. Forests in the Buki area under the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Ghumte of Galkot, Buchhung Salleri Community Forest of Resh Sigana and Malika community forests were burnt down in the fires, said the assistant forest officer at the forest office, Madan Kandel.
Bushfires destroy around 450 hectares of forest area in Baglung
A long spell of drought and human negligence are blamed for the wildfires. "There is a long spell of drought. As a result, tree leaves have become dry and they can easily catch fire when people make a fire nearby. People should be well aware and take cautions," he said.
Ninety-five percent of bushfires have taken place due to human negligence, he said.
In a bid to control forest fires, the forest office has been launching awareness programs.
Property worth over Rs 18 million has been burnt down in fires in the district so far for the fiscal year, 2020/21, according to the District Police Office, Baglung. Ninety houses and 15 animal sheds were gutted in fires and three people were injured and 29 domestic animals were killed and 18 injured.
