98 booked for farm fires in one day, farmers fume

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 6

Farmers are angry as the Bathinda police registered 49 cases against 98 farmers in a single day for stubble burning in the district on Tuesday.

Farmers are against the state government, the police and the district administration over this. Farmer unions are protesting at Singo, Maur, Gillgosal and Kotra villages in the district, demanding the cancellation of the cases registered against the farmers.

Even the police team, which went to stop the stubble burning, had to face their ire at Mehma Bhagwana village in the district.

BKU Ekta Ugrahan district president Shingara Singh Mann alleged that the state government was adopting double standards. He claimed that they did not fear cases and were ready for a bigger protest against the state government in the coming days over the issue.

Mann said, “If farmers do not burn paddy stubble, then it would cost them around Rs 6,000 per acre. How can we spend such a huge amount?”

Questioning the government’s intent, Mann said if the state government was serious about paddy stubble burning, it should have given Rs 200 as bonus per quintal to the farmers, which they had been demanding. BKU Sidhupur district president Baldev Singh Sandoha said union members were staging a protest at various villages in the district over this wrong action taken by the state government. He said their fight over the issue would continue against the state government.

Sandoha said, “We are also against the burning of paddy stubble, but what farmers can do if the government does not support them at the ground level.” He said the government should purchase stubble as it was used in manure, producing power and many more things.

Farmers said, “They acknowledge the ill-effects of burning crop residue, but they have no alternative as the government has not made any arrangements to handle the situation.”

They said, “We are already facing a lot of difficulties in dealing with the stray cattle menace. Now, the farmers have unnecessarily been booked for stubble burning. Factories are the main reason behind pollution, but action is being taken only against the farmers.” They claimed that if the state government was so concerned about it, then why it did not provide any solution to it.