In a unique move to hit more on drug-terror nexus, the Centre has decided to identify ganja (cannabis) growing areas through satellites and deploy drones to carry out spraying of chemical to destroy the crops.
In a communiqué to Director General of Police of all States and Union Territories, Central Paramilitary Forces and Narcotic Control Bureau, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed to identify cannabis growing areas through satellites and destroy the crops through chemical spraying by using drones.
The Ministry has also directed to find out the root of the supply chain in drugs and identify the drug-terror nexus.
As per reports, Kerala, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Mysuru, and even Bihar are known for illegal cannabis farming.
The issue of increasing cannabis farming in several States was discussed at the highest-level meeting with States police chiefs recently. It is estimated that one acre of cannabis fetches Rs 2 to 2.50 lakh in the market.
As per data, 9,500 acres of cannabis crop was destroyed across the country during 2017-18. The crop season commences around September and it is harvested around February or March. Recently, the Delhi Police has seized 1,300 kg cannabis since June this year. The security agencies also seized 111.91 kg and worth Rs 100 crore from Manipur on June 29.
According to intelligence sources, the Afghan variety of drug is being pumped into Kashmir via Pakistan, which is further pushed into Punjab via Jammu. Punjab, which shares a 553-km-long border with Pakistan, has been hit hard by the menace of drugs smuggled from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Army intelligence sources are also said to have established strong links between Kashmiri terrorists and drug trafficking in Punjab.
A 2019 study conducted by the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences reported that about 7.2 million Indians had consumed cannabis within the past year.
Last week Chief Ministers of seven States, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, besides senior officials representing Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh met to draw out a joint action plan to combat the rapidly growing crisis of drug abuse in the region.
According to sources, Delhi is one of the main epicenters where drugs flow from all States and supplied to other parts of the country. Drugs smuggled into Punjab from J&K, Rajasthan besides across the border from Pakistan are making way to Delhi and beyond. Habit-forming drugs are making way to Jammu from Punjab. While cannabis from Himachal has a market in Punjab, most infamous drug “chitta” is now smuggled to Himachal villages along the Punjab border.
According to Narcotic Control Bureau report 2018, seizure of narcotic drugs like opium, heroin and cannabis in the country has increased by more than 300 per cent in the last five years with 2017 witnessing an all-time high recovery of over 3.6 lakh kg of narcotics.
Intelligence Agencies report said Kashmiri farmers, especially in South Kashmir, are being forced into cultivating poppy to generate funds to finance street and terrorist violence. While the focus of the national media has largely been on drug abuse among the youth in Punjab, the scenario in J&K is no less frightening.
The Paris-based Geopolitical Drug Watch has labelled Pakistan as a ‘narco state’, a nation in which drug barons collaborate closely with politicians, senior bureaucrats and armed forces officers. This illegal and clandestine business pumps more than $2 billion annually into Pakistan’s sinking economy. The economy of Pakistan-Afghan frontier is dependent on the production of poppy and cannabis. The drug money is being floated in an unorganised but systematic manner into the Indian money market thereby damaging financial institutions.
According to the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) report, there are about 70,000 substance abusers present in the Valley, out of which 31 per cent are women. According to addiction data published by the Government Psychiatric Hospital, Srinagar, around 90 per cent drug abusers belong to the age group of 17-35.
