Siraha: A fire that broke out in a sugarcane field in Siraha district destroyed crops spread over about 20 acres of land, causing heavy losses to local farmers, officials said on Monday, The Rising Nepal reported.
The blaze erupted around noon at Ghaletole in Lahan Municipality-13 and quickly spread across the sugarcane plantation. Police said the fire caused an estimated loss of about Rs 11.6 million, affecting 25 farmers in the area.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Kailash Rai, who heads the Area Police Office in Lahan, said a police team was rushed to the spot immediately after receiving information that the fire had started from the middle of the field. With the help of local residents, security personnel managed to stop the flames from reaching nearby homes.
Firefighting efforts were briefly disrupted when the water jetting motor of the fire engine from Lahan Municipality malfunctioned. Additional support was then sought from Golbazar Municipality, whose fire engine helped extinguish the blaze after nearly four hours of coordinated efforts by police, firefighters and local residents.
Police said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Preliminary findings suggest it may have been triggered by a discarded cigarette or bidi, or could have been deliberately set, as the fire began from the centre of the sugarcane field.
According to farmers, sugarcane typically yields 30 to 35 quintals per kattha with proper inputs, and growers earn Rs 620 per quintal from sugar mills, along with a government subsidy of Rs 70.
Based on these estimates, farmers believe nearly 18,000 quintals of sugarcane were destroyed in the fire, putting the total loss at around Rs 12.42 million.
