E-Paper
Stubble-burning in Gkp: Samman Nidhi of farmers stopped, officers suspended
Deputy director, agriculture, Arvind Singh, stopped the Kisan Samman Nidhi of over 20 farmers. He also imposed an environmental compensation fine on these farmers
The district authorities have initiated punitive action against farmers, as incidents of stubble-burning continue unabated.
Taking a tough stand against paddy growers for continuing to burn stubble despite understanding about its impact on air quality, deputy director, agriculture, Arvind Singh, stopped the Kisan Samman Nidhi of over 20 farmers on Wednesday.
He also imposed an environmental compensation fine on these farmers and asked 19 paddy growers to pay a collective fine of ₹50,000.
Arvind Singh also suspended three assistant agriculture development officers including Amit Tripathi, Susheel Maurya and Suryanath of Sardar Nagar, Bhat Hat and Jungle Kauriya block, respectively, for their alleged failure to put an effective check on farm fires in their area.
Singh confirmed that the agriculture department team had found piles of stubble lying and burning at 36 places during spot verification.
He said that in verification and confirmation of stubble-burning, a list of 19 farmers was prepared and directions issued to lodge a case against them. He confirmed that Kisam Samman Nidhi of such farmers would be stopped.
Talking to media persons, Dhruv Partap Singh, a small farmer, said that in the absence of an alternative, he had no other option but to burn the stubble and condemned the punishment. He said that the issue of naming small farmers in an FIR and shaming them would be raised before chief minister Yogi Adityanath as a delegation of farmers would hand over a memorandum to him at Gorakhnath temple during his upcoming stay (expected after December 2).
Abdur Rahman
