2,000 farmers booked for stubble burning in Uttar Pradesh

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has demanded withdrawal of cases against the farmers and has threatened agitation if 'victimisation' of farmers was not stopped.

Lucknow: Over 1,100 FIRs have been lodged against 2,000 farmers in Uttar Pradesh for stubble burning.

Nearly, 144 FIRs have been lodged in different districts in the last 24 hours alone for stubble burning. The police lodged 15 FIRs in Balrampur, eight in Bahraich and Kushinagar, seven each in Aligarh, Basti and Hardoi, and six each in Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Siddhartha Nagar among others.

---

Six persons have also been arrested in Saharanpur for burning stubble.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) H.C. Awasthi has given strict directions to all district police chiefs to stop air pollution, by spreading awareness against stubble burning and for proper disposal of crop residue by involving village committees and village heads.

Senior officials at the state DGP headquarters said Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture had informed the DGP that in spite of repeated instructions stubble burning cases were not coming down.

ADG, law and order, Prashant Kumar said the Supreme Court was monitoring the situation and district police chiefs have been asked to ensure guidelines of curbing stubble burning were followed.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has demanded withdrawal of cases against the farmers and has threatened agitation if ‘victimisation’ of farmers was not stopped.

Meanwhile, a large number of bees were reportedly charred to death in a farm in Shahjahanpur, due to stubble burning. A bee farmer, Dharmendra Kumar, claimed that he had suffered huge losses and has filed a complaint in this regard.

Dharmendra had signed up for beekeeping training in Pipraula village. In 2017, he secured a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme and started his apiary with 50 hive boxes.

Each hive box cost Rs 4,500 and each hive produced nearly 25kg honey. Besides honey production, bees play an important role as pollinators in the crop production.