Visakhapatnam: Cops destroy ganja crop in 80 acres in Agency
Superintendent of police, Visakha Rural, B Krishna Rao along with the team taking part in ganja destruction programme in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: With the support of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), excise, revenue, forest and ITDA officials, the district police carried destruction of ganja crop in Agency areas in the district on Saturday. As a part of it, ganja crop in 80 acre was destroyed in G Madugula mandal.
Earlier, the police department carried out a comprehensive survey in the Agency region to identify the extent of land wherein ganja was cultivated using technologies like satellite images, GPS, drones.
Visakha rural superintendent of police B Krishna Rao said that many villagers have been coming forward voluntarily to destroy ganja crop at several hamlets.
The police appealed to the people to volunteer themselves to destroy ganja crop and urged the youth to say 'no' to drugs.
In an effort to put a check on the consumption and smuggling of narcotic drugs, the police initiated a comprehensive programme 'Parivartana' (Change).
To curb the ganja menace in the Agency area, extensive awareness campaigns were rolled out by the department to educate villagers and local farmers on the issue and discourage them from ganja cultivation and the consequences it invites.
Terming the initiative as a welcome sign, the SP said it would continue till the problem of illegal cultivation in Visakhapatnam Agency region is cleared.
On Saturday, the destruction of the ganja crop was carried out in the presence of excise deputy commissioner Babji Rao, SEB joint director Satish Kumar, ASP Chintapalli Tushar Dudi, Paderu ASP P Jagdish along with other officials.