Farmers defy admn orders, burn stubble in the open

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 25

Making a mockery of the orders of the district administration banning stubble burning, scores of farmers under the BKU banner today openly burnt stubble in Agondh village.

Launching a statewide protest today, they decided to burn stubble in the open at each district headquarters.

After banning the burning of stubble under Section 144, the district administration issued notices to farmers and suspended four officials last week for negligence of duty in curbing the practice.

The Agriculture Department and the Pollution Control Board had reportedly issued notices to several farmers for violating the norms after which the BKU served a 72-hour ultimatum on the administration, demanding cancellation of the notices.

As per the ultimatum, farmers assembled at Agondh village today and opposed the government decision.

“Issuing notices to farmers and imposing fines for stubble burning is not an option to tackle the problem. The government should instead develop another mechanism to decompose stubble in the fields,” said Rattan Mann, president of the state BKU, who led the protest.

SDM Yogesh Kumar said: “The burning of stubble in the open is not in my knowledge. I will ask the departments concerned to take appropriate action.”