19 farmers booked for stubble burning in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur

Nineteen farmers have been booked for burning crop residue in Sitapur district, officials said on Sunday.

District magistrate Akhilesh Tiwari said, " FIRs have been registered against 19 farmers and 14 village officials in Sitapur for burning stubble in their fields. I would like to appeal to the farmers that stubble burning is harmful to their lands and so they should restrict themselves from burning it"

All the farmers were fined Rs 49000 by the district administration and a departmental investigation has also been ordered against 14 accountants and agriculture officers.

Similarly, 45 FIRs have also been registered against farmers in Shamli for allegedly burning stubble and sugarcane leaves. The district magistrate Akhilesh Singh said that fines to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh have been issued, of which, around Rs 2 lakh has been recovered.

This comes after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, earlier this month, sought replies from superintendents of police of 26 districts in the state in connection with the incidents of stubble burning from October 1 to November 25 in 2018 and 2019.