One simple solution to containing fires is digging ponds, which should begin from the highlands, spreading to the midlands, and ultimately ending in the lowlands along both sides of gullies
The country is virtually up in smoke due to domestic as well as wildfires engulfing it. In fact, like tigers hunting in pairs, these two disasters have brought untold sufferings to the people. Given that the earth has just started to warm up, this may be just the beginning of the worst to come.
A fire is like a double-edged sword. It is essential for survival, for cooking food, for example. In fact, it triggers development, which can be seen by the change in human lives after the discovery of fire. While early human beings consumed unhygienic raw meat, also known as kachila in Nepal Bhasha, it is only later after the discovery of fire that they started to eat healthier boiled and fried meat, known as chhoila and sekuwa. But fires can also be devastating and damaging. It can turn into ashes a very beautiful settlement in no time. Hanuman is believed to have used fire to damage the golden Lanka after Ravan set fire to his tail.
Fiery materials have been used for ulterior motives as well. In the Mahabharata, Duryodhan wanted to take the lives of the five Pandhav brothers. He invited them to a palace designed by architect Purochana, which was all made of wax-like inflammable materials. The conspiracy hatched by Duryodhan was to burn the Pandhav brothers alive. But the Pandhav brothers learnt of the plot much earlier from their uncle Bidura and managed to escape through an underground tunnel. The palace later went up in flames as designed, but the objective was not met. There are also various anecdotes associated with fire incidents. For instance, when Rome was burning, Emperor Nero is famously said to have played the flute.
Later in the early millennium, in Nepal, the Licchavi capital Hadi Gaon is said to have suffered from a huge fire. So it was during the Malla period when Patan Durbar Square was the victim of a massive blitz during the time of Sri Nivas Malla, the son of legendary King Siddhi Narasimha Malla who constructed the beautiful temple of Krishna Mandir. The tall Degu Tale Temple was severely damaged during the fire.
Since then, fires have been occurring at regular intervals in Nepal. It ranks as the most-occurring disaster, after landslides and floods, not only in the hills and mountains but also in the tarai. Fires not only lead to large-scale destruction but also make the poor poorer, unlike floods which at times add to the prosperity due to the high yield of paddy.
Out of the 242 disaster incidents that occurred in the country last week, 129 of them relate to fires while 85 were wildfires. It shows how domestic fires and wildfires have been taking place spontaneously. In Saptari district, several houses turned into ashes in no time. One person lost Rs 200,000 in cash which he had taken in loans to go to the UAE for foreign employment.
Fire victims of earlier incidents have complained that they have not received relief materials from the government. Neither have they obtained emergency, temporary and permanent shelters which they normally obtain in other countries.
Domestic fires occur mostly due to negligence – for instance, when someone throws a cigarette butt. Such irregularities lead to houses catching fires, as they use temporary materials such as thatch for roofing. Then there are others which come about due to short circuiting of the electrical power system. The government has promoted the use of galvanized iron sheets for roofing, which, however, have been few and far between. Still, many of the fires begin from thatch-roofed houses.
There is a simple fire-resistant thatch technology developed by this columnist, which however has not been adopted by the government. To minimise short circuits, the electrical wiring has to be of a better standard, which unfortunately is absent, especially in the countryside.
A more dangerous fire is wildfire. It has been very damaging not only in Nepal but even in developed countries like the United States. Recently, 26 people lost their lives due to the wildfire that spread at an exponential pace in Los Angeles. In Nepal, just two days ago, Chhatthar Rural Municipality of Tehrathum district fell victim to such an event. Nearer to the capital, Dakshinkali Municipality was grappling with wildfire.
There are, however, some simple solutions even to such complex problems. One of them is the digging of ponds which should begin from the highlands, spreading to the midlands, ultimately ending in the lowlands along both sides of the gullies. Such ponds decrease the temperature and increase the humidity, discouraging the occurrence and spread of forest fires. They also prevent flooding and landslide due to the retention of the water in the bosom of the hills rather than gushing downward at high speed. The wild animals do not enter settlements due to the availability of water and fodder in their own habitat. Lightning also falls on the highland where damage to life is less due to the sparse population in this area compared to the midlands and the lowlands.
Digging ponds is an easy task, which does not need great skills. Consequently, one can see ponds in the Kathmandu Valley and the terai like Janakpur and Mahottari where they were constructed in the past. Unfortunately, such ponds have been covered to make room for the construction of ugly high-rise buildings.
Some 170 ponds have been constructed by this columnist in Mahottari and Khotang with the support of Thamel Rotary Club and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology. Lately, some local governments also have taken such initiatives. But such stray attempts are far from adequate. A nation-wide campaign should be initiated to tame particularly the wildfires which are very menacing.