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Six day mission yet to pay off
The State government’s determination to destroy ganja plants in the Agency by deploying special teams comprising police, excise and revenue personnel may not be possible given the terrain and hostile farmers, who are now got used to good income which they cannot derive from traditional farming.
Visakhapatnam: The State government’s determination to destroy ganja plants in the Agency by deploying special teams comprising police, excise and revenue personnel may not be possible given the terrain and hostile farmers, who are now got used to good income which they cannot derive from traditional farming.
Through the six-day special drive, the special teams could destroy the plants only in 160 acres, whereas the drop is grown in over 20,000 acres spreading over the Odisha border.
Highlights:
- Ganja crop is grown in 20,000 acres in AP and Odisha borders
- Special forces destroyed plants in 160 acres in six days
The visit to Urukonda area under Kinchurupanchayat of Paderu mandal in Vizag Agency, where ganja plantation have been taking place, has revealed that the ganja growers in the area have been getting support (financial and technical) from the smugglers hailing from Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
The tribal farmers in the area have been adopting modern methods (using fertilisers and chemicals besides pipelines for irrigation under gravity mechanism) for better yields which would fetch them more money. Admitting that they have forced to cultivate cannabis, a farmer from Urukonda said that development was an eyewash in their region as most of the youth in the region are unemployed and the government failed them to provide meaningful life.
He said the money they get is nominal and those coming from outside and investing are making crores of rupees.
“We are now facing a difficult situation. The smugglers are exploiting us by giving little money and the enforcement agencies want to destroy the crop snatching away our livelihood,’’ the farmer said.
Assistant Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise (Enforcement) SVVN Babji Rao said that with the support of police, forest, and few other departments, they have destroyed over 2.8 lakh ganja plantations in over 160 acres in the past six-days in Vizag Agency.
It is very difficult to destroy ganja crop in the entire region with limited resources as the ganja cultivation has scattered and most of the cultivation has been taking place in remote areas (Maoist hotbed areas). “We will find alternative measures to mitigate the ganja cultivation and check the ganja smuggling,’’ he added. Meanwhile the police said they cannot put resources to root out ganja as they are more concerned about the Maoists activities.
