Locals have rescheduled their cooking time after a committee of villagers of Sangrampur and Samanpur VDCs jointly issued a public notice to this effect. The committee has asked all the villagers to complete cooking and douse their mud ovens by eight in the morning and by seven in the evening. [break]
“Strong winds during daytime in the summer helps spread fire. So, we have ordered every one in the village to finish cooking by eight in the morning,” said Narendra Thakur, a member of the villagers´ committee. He said the committee issued the directive as most of the villagers use firewood ovens to cook food increasing the chances of fire outbreak.
According to him, the committee has also warned of slapping a fine of Rs 25,000 on those defying the order.
Two days ago, as many as 84 houses were gutted in the fire in Basbitti and Rajhunathpur VDCs of Rautahat. It is estimated that the fire destroyed property worth Rs 80 million.
Likewise, Surendra Patel, technical assistant at Sangrampur VDC office said villagers have stopped going to their fields fearing fire outbreak.
“Villagers have not been going to the fields to cut wheat crops fearing fire outbreak. So, we decided to ask them to reschedule cooking time,” said Kishor Patel, former vice-president of VDC.
Meanwhile, over two dozens houses belonging to eleven families were gutted in the fire on Sunday night in Tilathi VDC of Saptari. The loss was estimated to be around Rs 5.5 million.
Eastern Regional Administrator Janardan Nepal had reached the VDC to meet with the fire victims on Monday morning. He has also ordered the local authorities to hold awareness programs to prevent the occurrence of fire outbreaks.
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