By Chandra Pandak
Taplejung, Dec. 31: The forest fire which began since Thursday at the forest around Pathivara Temple, a popular Hindu shrine in east Nepal in Taplejung district situated at an altitude of 3,794 metres, has not come under control even in a week.
The fire had begun from the Simbu Community Forest at Ward No 11 of Phungling Municipality and reached the Sunpati Community Forest in Ward No 3 of Sirijangha Rural Municipality since Wednesday morning.
Even though the teams on the site were able to prevent the fire from expanding towards the temple premises, the fire is still spreading towards other parts.
“The forest fire has not come under control since it started. The dense forest area and the difficult geographical terrain followed by strong wind have made its control an arduous task,” said Birendra Sah, chief at Division Forest Office, Taplejung.
According to Sah, around 100 hectares area of forest has already been destroyed.
Locals, officials from the forest office, volunteers, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepali Army have been jointly working to bring the fire under control, but their work has gone in vain since the fire is spreading faster than what they can extinguish.
“There is no source of water nearby and the terrain doesn’t have a route for fire engines to engage. Likewise, pouring water from helicopters also didn’t work effectively,” said Jharendra Prasad Chapagain, Chief District Officer of Taplejung.
Despite the hardship, those in frontline are making it sure to not let the fire reach towards human settlements. The front liners are also trying their best to not allow the fire to enter the Mayampatal Community Forest at Ward 10 of Phungling Municipality. The officials have stated that they would be bound to destroy the forest in some locations by themselves if the fire doesn’t come under control and keeps expanding.
“If the fire reaches Mayampatal Community Forest, it will be far more difficult to save the settlement and the Pathivara Temple. In order to prevent this disaster, we will be bound to destroy some parts of the forest trees ourselves and stop it from spreading further,” said Suraj Ojha, chairman at the community forest consumer federation of Taplejung.
On the other hand, the authorities are also struggling to prevent the fire from spreading towards Kanchanjunga Conservation Area. If the fire enters the conservation area, the effects on wildlife along with flora and fauna will be worse. The fire has already affected a worrying population of red panda, an endangered species found in these forests.
“We have deployed our teams in places from where there is a grave danger to prevent fire from spreading towards the conservation area if the fire is to expand further,” said Ganesh Tiwari, conservation officer at Kanchanjunga Conservation Area.
The officials have been praying for rain soon because it is the only way for the forest fire to stop due to the lack of necessary equipment and having no option to stop the fire in the high hills.