The Hindu : New Delhi News : Illegal cannabis cultivation on the rise

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 26, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Illegal cannabis cultivation on the rise

By Devesh K. Pandey

NEW DELHI, NOV. 25. With cannabis and poppy cultivation becoming a major source of easy money for locals in resource areas like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the official anti-narcotics agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to crack down on drug traffickers.

In recent years, hashish consignments seized in Delhi were found to have originated from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Last year, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had seized 124 kg of Kashmiri hashish from Delhi and Haryana. While half of the consignment procured from Anantnag was seized from Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in North-East Delhi, the rest was recovered from Haryana.

The seizure revealed that hashish, a cannabis product, was being manufactured in large quantities in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir despite efforts by the Central anti-narcotics agencies.

The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from the fact that during a drive carried out by the Chandigarh division of NCB in September-October this year, 2,420 bighas of cannabis cultivation were destroyed in Malana and Parbati Valley in Himachal Pradesh. The officials had to travel over 200 km on foot during the exercise. According to them, the destroyed plantation could have produced 7, 260 kg of quality hashish.

In one of these operations, the NCB found that two Austrian nationals, identified as Deniel and Florien, had been living in a palatial building near Malana and were cultivating cannabis in its premises. During the raid, the NCB sleuths seized 20 kg of hybrid cannabis seeds along with machines and tools used for packing a cannabis derivative called charas. The accused had hired armed Nepalese nationals to guard the place.

In another operation, the enforcement agencies arrested 20 Nepalese nationals along with those from Bihar, Jharkhand and Kullu, who were camping in Tosh village to extract sap from the cannabis plants.

NCB statistics reveal that last year it had destroyed over 2,700 bighas of illegal cannabis plantation in Himachal Pradesh alone, whereas about 2,200 bighas of plantation were destroyed in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sustained surveillance has revealed that cannabis is being illegally cultivated at Kullu in areas like Malana, Jana, Hanana, Tugla, Barsaini, Tosh, Baragarh, Bongu, Fozal Valley, Kharad, Kashtawad, Jarad and Lagh Valleys, Garihia, Gharhingcha, Kandi, Bali, Kathiari, Dhara Pari, Khanala, Tilapul, Tuncha, Chenur, Kasol, Vashisth, Jagat Sukh, Jerry, Anni and Dalash. Cannabis is also cultivated in various places in Mandi, Chamba, Shimla and Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh.

In Jammu and Kashmir, this plant is grown in Anantnag, Baramulla, Srinagar, Pulwama, Kupwara, Doda and Kishtwar. Hashish manufactured from cannabis produced in these areas is considered to be of very high quality, just like the one produced in Nepal.

An analysis of the reasons behind the heavy cultivation of cannabis in Himachal Pradesh revealed that the terrain -- which is conducive for cannabis cultivation -- is geographically isolated and inaccessible. The business is growing fast due to the increasing demand for hashish from foreign tourists and job scarcity.

The declining yield of fruits/crops and even easy availability of labour, mainly Nepalese nationals, are also contributory factors apart from the shortage of enforcement agencies in these areas.

However, the cannabis cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir is flourishing due to other factors. In this terrorism-infested State, cannabis is grown in certain parts to generate money for terrorist funding. As the enforcement agencies are more concerned about militancy there, cannabis cultivation becomes a low priority for them.

As per NCB statistics, opium poppy, from which heroin is manufactured, is also being grown in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, apart from being cultivated in huge quantities at Nimuch in Madhya Pradesh and Jhalawar and Bhawani Mandi in Rajasthan. Last year, the NCB destroyed about 4,800 bighas of poppy crop in Himachal Pradesh and nearly 560 bighas in Jammu and Kashmir.

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