Telangana: Farmer Burnt Alive in His Own Paddy Field

On Tuesday afternoon, a farmer was burnt alive in his own agricultural field at Veldurthi in Jagtial rural Mandal. The accident was discovered late at night when his charred body was found in the field by his family members.

The Police said – “Pothuganti Laxman Goud (54) set fire to paddy stubs in his agriculture field on Tuesday afternoon and he accidentally caught fire.”

Goud had an eyesight problem, due to which he failed to notice the flames. As he was surrounded by the fire and there was no one present in the vicinity to rescue him, he succumbed to the flames and died on the spot.

In the evening his family members started inquiring with toddy tappers when he failed to return home since Laxman used to consume toddy regularly. Later in the night they went to his field and found his charred body.

 The police rushed to the spot after being aware of the incident and initiated an investigation. Laxman’s body was shifted to Jagtial hospital for postmortem.

Now after this terrible accident, the stubble burning issue has got a new perspective. One of the other, it is dangerous. Stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in north India has been cited as a major cause of air pollution in Delhi since 2002. Consequently, the government is considering the implementation of the 1,600 km long and 5 km wide Great Green Wall of Aravalli. 

From April to May and October to November each year, farmers mainly in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh burn an estimated 35 million tons of crop waste from their paddy fields after harvesting as a low-cost straw-disposal practice to reduce the turnaround time between harvesting and sowing for the first (summer) crop and the second (winter) crop.

Smoke from this burning produces a cloud of particulates visible from space and has produced what has been described as a "toxic cloud" in New Delhi, resulting in declarations of an air-pollution emergency. For this, the NGT (National Green Tribunal) instituted a fine of ₹2 lakh on the Delhi Government for failing to file an action plan providing incentives and infrastructural assistance to farmers to stop them from burning crop residue to prevent air pollution.