Police teams destroying the ganja plantations at Pedabayalu in Alluri Sitharama Raju district.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGMENT
/VISAKHAPATNAM
The efforts of police in curbing the menace of drug abuse in Visakhapatnam district in the year 2024 have been significantly intensified, especially since the formation of the new government in the State, which initiated a 100-day action plan to curb ganja smuggling and cultivation, yielding good results.
The year 2025, however, is expected to have a transformative impact on ganja smuggling with the launch of Elite Anti-narcotics Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) an anti-drug task force in the district with an exclusive sub-office.
Since the undivided Visakhapatnam district and Alluri Sitharama Raju district, in particular, have been the focal points for ganja smugglers, the State government seems to have decided to lay special focus on curbing the menace in this region.
Comprehensive strategy
The ASR district police, led by Superintendent of Police Amit Bardar, have devised a comprehensive strategy to tackle the long-standing challenges of ganja cultivation and trafficking since June 12, 2024.
This plan included surveys across 258 villages, covering approximately 9,200 acres, supported by drone surveillance in 195 remote villages across 7,500 acres. These operations have led to the identification and destruction of 43.45 acres of ganja plantations in 81 locations across 22 villages.
This year, the ASR district police have also registered 172 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and arrested 507 persons from whom around 15,000 kg of ganja and 3 kg of hash oil were seized.
Alternative livelihoods
The police have also focused on promoting alternative livelihoods for farmers to reduce their dependency on ganja cultivation. As part of this, the police, with the help of the district administration, distributed seeds and saplings of 22 types of high-yield crops, such as avocado, coffee, turmeric, and pepper, to over 10,000 farmers.
Community development programmes like ‘Nirman’ and ‘Spoorthi’ were also organised. As many as 622 awareness programmes were organised by the police to sensitise people, especially youth, about the ill effects of ganja cultivation and consumption.
‘Swachch Sankalpam’
The ASR district police have launched ‘Swachch Sankalpam’, an awareness programme against the use of ganja. Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, actor Daggubati Venkatesh, and others have promoted the campaign, appealing to youth to stay away from drugs.
Similarly, the Anakapalli police have strengthened surveillance by increasing checkposts. Dynamic checking is being conducted on the routes leading to Visakhapatnam via Anakapalli from the ASR district. Drones are now being used to monitor activities in suspected locations across the district.
Visakhapatnam police teams have also been busting a number of cases. Recently, a meeting was organised with agencies involved in parcel services, bus travel, etc. Later, a four-member gang was arrested in Allipuram for smuggling ganja using courier services in the name of dry fruits.
“Ganja availability has declined in the ASR district. In most of the cases, it is being brought from Odisha. Undivided Vizag is now only used as a transit point. We have two challenges. Some smugglers are settled over here to store the ganja and shift it to destinations, and they need to be arrested. We must also ensure the farmers involved in ganja cultivation are provided an alternate livelihood,” said a senior police officer from Visakhapatnam.
He also said that the ‘Eagle’ taskforce will be an additional strength to the existing police to handle drug abuse.
“The Eagle force will have an adequately trained workforce and will use sophisticated technology. The kingpins behind the smuggling rackets should be nabbed. Surveillance is also being strengthened in all the districts with CCTV cameras and drones. Hopefully, the year 2025 will be significant in the fight against ganja,” he added.
Published – December 23, 2024 06:58 pm IST