Minister applauds excise dept

Visakhapatnam: Minister for Excise KS Jawahar lauded the excise and police personnel, who destroyed the ganja cultivation in 3,400 acres in the dense forest areas of Visakhapatnam.

Participating at the valedictory of the International Day Against Drug Abuse, the minister said that the government is not considering the excise department as a revenue generation one but sincerely working to protect the health of the people in the state. He called upon the excise personnel to maintain punctuality and sincerity while discharging their duties.

Collector Pravin Kumar explained that all the departments have been collectively working to eradicate ganja cultivation and smuggling in the district. Later, the minister presented merit certificates to the excise personnel who showcased their talents in preventing ganja cultivation.

Meanwhile, the police and excise departments jointly observed the International Day Against Drug Abuse in the city on Tuesday. A massive rally was taken out on the Beach Road to mark the occasion followed by two panel meetings at the Zilla Parishad Hall.

In the morning session, police, excise and NCC cadets participated in the rally which started at YMCA and concluded at Hotel Novotel. The rally was flagged off by Collector Pravin Kumar in which Special Commissioner of Excise P Lakshminarasimham, Superintendent of Police of Visakhapatnam Rural Rahul Dev Sharma and a large number of students and faculty of various colleges were present.

Later, addressing the massive gathering, Additional Director General of Police (CID) Amit Garg said that called upon the enforcement personnel to initiate stringent action against the drug peddlers. The usage of drugs not only affects an individual’s life, but also it would damage the peace and harmony of the family and society as well, Garg said.

He called upon the excise officials to concentrate to destroy the ganja cultivation in the agency areas. He stressed the need for collective efforts of excise, police, revenue and forest departments to check the ganja cultivation and smuggling.

“During 2016 and 2017, over 30,000 kgs of ganja was seized by the police and excise departments. It has come down in 2018 and 1,737 kgs of ganja only seized so far. Unless the punishment is severe, the crime could not be controlled,” Amit Garg said. He advised the college managements to set up teams to identify the students who are addicted to drugs.

Special Commissioner of Excise P Lakshminarasimham directed the officials to prepare an action plan in association with line departments to check the ganja cultivation and smuggling in the district. He also directed the officials to increase the checkings at the border areas to prevent the ganja smuggling. The state government has sanctioned a laboratory to be established in Visakhapatnam at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

The department already asked the district administration to allocate suitable land for the laboratory, he added. Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer IKV Raja, RDO Visakhapatnam RDO Tej Bharat and other officials spoke on prevention and destruction of ganja plantation.

Srikakulam: Deputy commissioner of excise department Arun Rao called upon the youth not to addict to bad habits and spoil their future.
The excise department officials took out an awareness rally to mark the International Anti-drugs Day here on Tuesday.

From June 20, the excise department officials have been conducting awareness activities across the district on drugs usage and its negative impact on health, wealth and society.

Parents, teachers and elders have to keep an eye on activities of youth and suggest a right way to them as they will be in a confused state, he explained. They displayed banners and placards on negative impact of drugs and raised slogans against drugs usage.

Border areas between different states are key points for transportation of drugs, because of availability, hence, the use of drugs has been increased in society, he pointed out. Particularly, youth in cities are being addicted to bad habits. excise officials said.

Excise department Srikakulam and Palasa superintendents G Nageswara Rao, M Bhaskar, enforcement department assistant commissioner A Srinivas, circle inspectors and sub-inspectors from various stations across the district participated in the rally and awareness meeting.