Farmers burn paddy straw in protest

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 15

Farmers, under the banner of BKU (Sidhupur), on Monday burnt paddy stubble in around 25 acres at Sheikhpura village, Talwandi Sabo, in protest against the state government over registering a case of stubble burning against five farmers and imposing Rs 2,500 penalty on each at Sadiq village in Faridkot district.

The farmers union had demanded not to take any action against them untill they attend a meeting with the state government over the issue, scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on Monday.

But as a few days ago, cases were registered for stubble burning, the union in turn cancelled the meeting with the state government.

The BKU (Sidhupur) has also announced to burn paddy stubble at Phul area in Rampura at 11 am.

BKU (Sidhupur) state president Baldev Singh Sandoha said, “There is a difference between what the government says and what it is doing.”

He said the state government was not supporting farmers on any issue. The government has started giving subsidy, but it has reached out to groups or big landlords, whereas marginal farmers with up to 6 acres have not got any relief, he added.

Sandoha said, “We are also against paddy stubble burning, but what can farmers do if the government doesn’t support them at the ground level.”

He said the government should purchase stubble as it is used in manure, producing power and many more things.

BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) district president Shingara Singh Mann said, “The Delhi government is wrongly defaming the Punjab farmers over the paddy stubble burning issue as experts have cleared that pet coke burning, which took place in Delhi before SC imposed ban, is more dangerous than stubble burning.”

He said the state government was deliberately not supporting farmers but it wanted to kill them by acquiring their lands and giving it to private sector companies.

Mann said, “If farmer don’t burn paddy stubble, then it would cost them around Rs 6,000 per acre. How can we spent such a huge amount?”

Questioning the government’s intent, Mann said if the state government was serious about paddy stubble burning then it should have given Rs 200 bonus per quintal to the farmers, which they had been demanding.

Moreover, bioethanol plant, which was scheduled to be set up at Nasibpura village in Talwandi Sabo to solve the issue of paddy stubble burning and the pollution caused due to it, has failed to come up till date.

The plant was to use farm waste paddy stubble as bio-fuel in its functioning, thereby paying farmers for the farm refuse that they set on fire.

Despite a ban on stubble burning by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), farmers continue to defy the orders with impunity in the district.