The industrial zone does not possess modern warehouses, and goods are packed in a small space resulting in a fire hazard. Moreover, there are no fire fighters and water supplies, and the workers are not well informed about prevention which has led to carelessness.

The April-May season is fire season in Morang when factory warehouses go up in flames annually. Prabhu Dhakal, spokesperson of the Morang Police, said fires were causing huge losses as the warehouses were not up to date.  

“Many factories don’t keep fire fighters and they don’t store water for emergencies. The workers don’t have knowledge about what to do when a fire breaks out,” said Dhakal. “Some factories have been surrounded by residential settlements which has made fire fighting difficult.”

On March 11, a fire broke out at Bipanata Ink Industry in Biratnagar-1 which destroyed 100 drums of chemicals resulting in a loss of Rs8 million. Likewise, on January 2, a fire caused a loss of Rs1.82 million at Baba Jute Mill in Katahari, Morang, according Morang Police.

Two days later, the factory of Bijaya Jewellers in Biratnagar-12 went up in flames causing a loss of Rs40,000. There have been six incidents of fire in Morang in the first six months of the fiscal year, most of them occurring in industrial warehouses.  In the last fiscal year, there were fire outbreaks in 10 factories in Morang district in the last four months causing losses worth millions of rupees.

In the current fiscal year, a fire at Suravi Polymer and Suravi Siliar resulted in losses of Rs15 million. Likewise, outbreaks of fire at Green Ply Nepal in Hattimudha and Sitaram Mandal Rice Mill caused losses of Rs1 million and Rs100,000 respectively, according to the police.

The frequent fires have prompted a number of industrialists to install preventive systems. Ramesh Rathi, proprietor of Swostik Jute Mill, is confident that there will be no repeat of the disaster that happened at his factory three years ago when property worth Rs8 million had gone up in flames. He has spent Rs5 million on anti-fire measures. The factory has been modernized and there is an emergency water supply of 100,000 litres for fighting fires.

“April-May is a worrisome period because of the likelihood of fires during this time,” he said, adding that fires at this time were more destructive as they spread fast due to the dry air. According to him, fires during other times can be quickly brought under control.

Jute, chemical, plastic and garment factories in the Sunsari and Morang Industrial Corridor most frequently encounter fires. Many factories convert old houses into warehouses without installing fire safety measures.

President of Nepal Jute Industries Association Raj Kumar Golchha said that factories had lately started spending more money to prevent fires.

“Even then, modern warehouses have not been built as required, but there has been an improvement,” he added. “Despite the upgrades, fires have been causing damage worth millions of rupees ever year.”