Himachal BJP chief slams state govt for imposing Rs 1 lakh fine on apple grower

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 8 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP Suresh Kashyap on Friday hit out at Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh for slapping a  fine of Rs 1 lakh on an apple grower from the Rohru area for dumping rotten apples in a wastewater stream.
Slamming Himachal State Pollution Control Board for imposing the fine, he said, "What kind of justice is this, when people are waiting for relief, the government imposes fines on them?"
Suresh who is the President of BJP's state unit on Friday met with the people affected by the fire recently in Daroti village of Tikar tehsil.
Addressing the public meeting, he said, "The present Congress government is anti-farmer".
He said farmers were forced to dump apples in the rivers and drains after the state government failed to open the roads which were closed due to landslides triggered by rains during the monsoon fury. 
"The apples could not reach the markets and facing disappointment, the apple growers dumped their apples in the rivers and drains".
Meanwhile, National Highway-5 was blocked on Friday due to heavy landslide near Nigulsari in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. A part of the highway was damaged due to the landslide.
The traffic connectivity to Kinnaur and Spiti was cut off due to the landslide, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said.
It is worth mentioning that the monsoon caused havoc in the state with multiple landslides, cloudbursts and floods in several places.
The monsoon also caused an infrastructural loss of over Rs 8,000 crore.
A total of 397 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents, out of which 143 people have lost their lives due to landslides, flash floods and cloudbursts. As per information, 370 people have been injured while 39 people are still missing, informed the government on Saturday.