Other States - Orissa   

Ganja plantations worth Rs. 1.50 cr. destroyed

BERHAMPUR: Illegal ganja plantations worth more than Rs. 1.5 crores were destroyed during raids by excise and police officials inside forests in Mohana block of Gajapati district on Friday.

These illegal ganja plantations were spread over an area of more than 40 acres near Mandramali, Badasindhua, Juba and Panaguda villages of Mohana block.

Although no one was arrested the excise officials are sure that the gullible tribals of these villages were used as pawns by drug mafia for this illegal cultivation of narcotics. Excise superintendent of Gajapati district Loknatha Mandia said they had destroyed over 58,600 mature ganja plants which had attained height of up to 12 feet. He said the raids by excise officials would continue to unearth possibility of more hidden cannabis fields in this remote area. Last year ganja plantations worth more than Rs. 9 crores had been destroyed during raids in Gajapati district. But the plantations have returned.

Inaccessibility of the areas to authorities is the major catalyst behind these illegal cannabis fields in Gajapati district, said Mr Mandia.

Although the four villages near which ganja plantations were located are connected by PMGSY roads the interiors of protected forests near them are still inaccessible. Narcotic mafias reach the tribals of these remote areas before monsoon. With lure of easy money they prompt tribals to take up ganja cultivation on remote hillocks through shifting cultivation. Places of cultivation change every year. The ganja crop is harvested during December. During the monsoon these remote areas where ganja cultivation takes place become totally inaccessible. The police and excise officials get to know about these illegal cannabis fields only after the plants get mature. And raids are made every year during last week of November and December.

The ganja gets transported outside these districts through different means of transportation including through unclaimed large baggage in passenger buses. Large quantity of ganja transported by passenger buses from these areas is usually seized by Berhampur police.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

All set for ‘Baliyatra’ festival
Sculpture with a filmi touch
New website launched
NCC cadets in traffic management
Six thefts on the same night
CPI(M) team visits arson-hit village
‘Lack of transparency in rural job scheme’
Ganja plantations worth Rs. 1.50 cr. destroyed
Netaji’s first school turns 125
Opposition sticks to its guns

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu