The recent crackdowns on ganja growers, traders and smugglers by the State police are welcomed. The thriving trade of ganja in the State has its pernicious effect on society, fuelling many crimes and hence, it needs to be discouraged.
Ganja is produced in the sub-Himalaya track and is abundant in wastelands in vast stretches from Punjab to Bengal. Bihar, Odisha and a few southern countries are not immune from it.
Ganja is chiefly cultivated for narcotic drugs. The crop is not native to Odisha, though it is cultivated in large amount in the interior hinterlands in several parts of the State. It is cultivated in all the hill districts, such as Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Phulbani, Sundargarh, Gajapati and Ganjam. Ganja cultivation in the tribal areas is encouraged to raise funds for the Maoists. The forest growth is cleared and soil prepared for sowing ganja seeds.
Chemical fertilizers like urea are applied to the soil for better yield. When the plants attain a certain height, female and male flowers appear in them. The plants having male flowers are removed, while only female plants are allowed to grow. Before fertilisation, the female flower bearing branches and branchlets are cut and dried.
The harvested ganja is packed in bags and is transported inside and across the States. The transport of ganja bags is generally done either by road or by train. When these operations are done, the field employees of Forest, Revenue, Excise and Police either condone it for vested interest or remain in dark.
Again huge fertilizers are required for successful cropping of ganja. The field operations are carried out first within pre-monsoon showers, when generally the Kharif crops are raised. Due to this, fertilizers like urea go scarce in Athamalik, Redhakhol and Sambalpur areas, which are known for their large patches of hemp fields.
The poor tribals are allured to hemp farming by means of sops. The growers are provided all sorts of assistance during the cultivation of the crop, starting from seeds, fertilizers, farm implements to high procurement price. The entire system is quite organized with outside elements playing a crucial role in it.
Encroachment cases must be started against the growers by the forest department if hemp cultivation is found in the forest area. The revenue department should also take similar step, if the banned crop is raised within revenue land. The excise, police and intelligence need to gear up to take drastic action against the people involved in the hemp business as this would go a long way in controlling crimes.
When ganja cultivation is the main source of financing Maoist activities, the police need to act tough against the ganja growers.
Regular transfer of field staff from the ganja producing areas in short intervals can solve the problems to a great extent. The field staffers of the forest, revenue, police and excise departments tend to go corrupt and are often seen supporting the illegal cultivation. So transferring them at regular intervals can break the nexus.
The regular uses of ganja or charus are very harmful and make the users blind besides creating mental disorders. The other byproducts of ganja are hashish and marijuana. Hashish means a resinous extracts of the dried flower top of the female hemp plant, while marijuana means dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant. The regular uses of the drug make man dull.
The efforts of the present Director General of Police are praiseworthy as he wants a total prohibition of the cultivation of hemp. The check gates of the State need to be more alert and transparent in their act.
There are factories in and outside the State for processing the byproducts of hemp. The administration should take appropriate steps to prevent the flow of the contrabands. When alcohol brings instant death with violent action, ganja, bhang, charus or brown sugar are silent killers. Hence, illegal practice of cultivation of ganja in Government lands must be stopped. Ganja cultivation is ecologically harmful too.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist)