Shravasti Farmer Dies After Agri Official Warns Of Fine For Stubble Burning

Shravasti DM Ajay Kumar Dwivedi said as per the NGT order and government instructions, agriculture department officials were engaged in dissuading farmers from burning stubble.

Shravasti: A farmer of Barawa Hargun village of Sonwa police station area in Shravasti of Uttar Pradesh died on Saturday evening out of shock after being warned by the officials from the agricultural department to impose Rs three lakhs for burning stubble. The incident has stunned the family members of the deceased farmer, prompting his wife to lodge a complaint with the police demanding action against the officials.

The wife, Kaushalya Devi, said her husband, Ram Samjha, was burning stubble in the field near Lihare Purva when Rajkumar Verma, a technical assistant from the agriculture department, turned up. He said Samjha if he burnt stubble, a fine of Rs three lakhs would be slapped on him.

In her complaint, Kaushalya wrote that after this her husband started extinguishing the stubble. Then he sat down near the tree and suddenly fell to the ground. He died by the time people reached.

DM Ajay Kumar Dwivedi said as per the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and government instructions, technical assistants, block technology manager (BTM) and assistant technology manager (ATM) of the agriculture department were assigned the task of dissuading farmers from burning stubble and make them aware of the damage to the environment due to the incineration. On Saturday, a technical assistant of Group-C grade, Verma, stopped Samajh and his son Nanakau of Barawa Hargun from burning stubble. About half an hour after Verma left the spot, the farmer suddenly died.

The body of the farmer has been sent for post-mortem and the matter is under investigation. Action will be based on the reports of the autopsy and investigation.