Farmers fined for burning stubble, activists dump garbage in tehsildar office campus

The BK activists, led by its divisional general secretary Raju Ahlawat, also sat on a dharna in the tehsildar’s office. The demonstration, however, was called off following the intervention by district officials, he said..

Yet another farmer was imposed a fine for allegedly burning stubble in the field amid growing resentment against the air-pollution control measure that saw BKU activists dumping harvest residues in the office campus of a revenue official in Khatauli near here. Ashok Kumar, a farmer from Sikandarpur village in Muzaffarnagar district was imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on Tuesday, said Additional District Magistrate Amit Singh.

Kumar was the 38th farmer in the district who was imposed the fine for burning stubble, said Singh adding 37 others were fined earlier -- some of them for burning stubble to clear the field, others for burning garbage or doing it to get relief from cold. A total of Rs 38,500 has been raised till now as fine from the erring farmers, he said.

Meanwhile, amid the growing resentment against the imposition of fines on farmers for stubble burning, the Bhartiya Kisan Union activists on Tuesday dumped tonnes of crop residue and garbage in the office campus of Khatauli tehsildar, an official said. The BK activists, led by its divisional general secretary Raju Ahlawat, also sat on a dharna in the tehsildar’s office.

The demonstration, however, was called off following the intervention by district officials, he said..