KATHMANDU - Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal’s capital on May 2 as the Himalayan republic endures a severe fire season authorities have blamed on a heatwave.

Nepal sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity have worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters.

Emergency crews worked through the night to fight the blaze which engulfed a forested area in Lalitpur, on the southern periphery of the Kathmandu valley.

More than 4,500 wildfires have been reported in 2024 across the country, nearly double compared to 2023, according to government data, but less than the worst fire season on record in 2021.

“Wildfires have increased in an unimaginable ratio, and the season is expected to last for a month more,” Mr Sundar Prasad Sharma of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority told AFP.

“It is challenging to put out fires because of our difficult terrain,” he added.

Environment ministry spokesman Mr Badri Raj Dhungana said the increase in the number of wildfires in 2024 was because of a lengthy drought and heatwave conditions in Nepal’s southern plains.

“Generally, wildfires peak late April but this year they are still increasing because of rising temperatures,” he said.

Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.

Large swathes of South and Southeast Asia have sweltered through a heatwave since April, with the El Nino phenomenon also driving 2024’s exceptionally warm weather.

Temperatures have risen above 40 deg C in the Buddhist pilgrimage city of Lumbini and other parts of the south, with more hot weather forecast in the days ahead.

More than a hundred schools in the southern city of Butwal were closed on May 2 for two days out of fears the heatwave would impact the health of students. AFP