Ghaziabad: Two cops were injured when farmers clashed with police during a protest against a solid waste management plant in Tronica City on Sunday. A large police contingent was deployed to maintain law and order. Police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd after more than 500 farmers and locals, including women and children, gathered outside the plant in Mirpur Hindu village. Police said protesters pelted stones at them, injuring two personnel.Protesters claimed over 10 farmers suffered injuries. “More than 10 people, including women, were injured during the lathi-charge. A few farmers suffered head injuries,” Raghuram Singh, a local said.Villagers said the plant — built by Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) — will “spoil the clean environment” of the area and increase the risk of diseases. Over 90% work has been completed at the plant, which may be functional soon. The work started three years ago. Farmers from Mirpur Hindu village, along with Pachayra, Badarpur, Nawada, Sungarpur, Allipur, Mandola, Khanpur Japti and Harampur villages have been opposing it.During the protest, rumour spread that an elderly woman died during lathi-charge. DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said it was fake news and no one died.“Farmers and locals came to give a memorandum to the administration. But all of a sudden, they broke the lock of the plant’s gate and entered the premises. A mild police force was used to clear the premises and we tried to calm them but they started throwing stones at police. Two cops — Mayank and Ranjeet — suffered severe injuries. Both were taken to hospital. Their clothes were full of blood. In self-defence, police used mild force to disperse the protesters. No lathi-charge took place. Some people have been detained,” Tiwari said.TOI accessed some videos of the incident. In one of the videos, the farmers ran from the road and cops followed them and beat them up with batons. In the second footage, a policeman was seen pushing a man while an elderly woman fell to the ground. A video of the elderly woman was released by police, in which she was seen standing in the crowd. Suddenly, she was pushed forcefully and fell to the ground. She is stable, police said.Villagers had been staging an indefinite sit-in protest at the Shiv temple located in Mirpur Hindu village for the past few days. During this, they submitted a memorandum to officials demanding removal of the plant.Residents and farmers said they raised the matter with the administration and GMC several times, “but no official visited to discuss the issue”. Raghuram said after the villagers gathered to stage a protest, police suddenly started forcing people into vehicles. When locals opposed this, police started beating up the farmers and when locals tried to save themselves, police started lathi-charging them.Shivam Thakur, a resident, said, “We are not in favour of any type of solid waste management plant or dumping ground in the area. We complained about this to the administration or GMC several times, but no one came to talk about the issue. How can a dumping yard or solid waste plant come near agricultural land? We are farming here, but the administration wants to make this plant near our houses to clear their houses or city.“
