Farmers have vowed to intensify their agitation until the project is cancelled.
Jaipur: Tension gripped Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district after a massive farmers’ protest against a proposed ethanol factory spiralled into violence on December 10. At least ten vehicles, including a JCB machine, were set ablaze as hundreds of farmers marching in Tibbi town confronted police personnel deployed with barricades. The unrest left multiple people injured, including Congress MLA Abhimanyu Poonia, and led to the detention of seven protestors.
The agitation stems from long-standing opposition to the establishment of the ethanol plant at Rathi Kheda village in the Tibbi area. Local farmers and villagers have been protesting for almost 15 months, fearing that the factory will damage the region’s environment, degrade fertile land, and jeopardize agricultural livelihoods.
Farmers said the factory would cause pollution, contaminate water sources, and render agricultural land barren. “If the factory comes up here, our future generations will suffer,” leaders asserted, demanding immediate relocation of the project.
District Collector Khushal Yadav defended the project, stressing that it had been approved only after fulfilling all legal and environmental norms.
According to police, protestors allegedly broke boundary walls and set fire to vehicles, including government vehicles. In response, police resorted to mild lathi-charging to disperse the mob and restore order. Superintendent of Police Harishankar Yadav said the situation was “under control” and confirmed that five policemen had been injured.
