Opium poppy cultivation begins to thrive in Angul dist
Finally, opium poppy plantation has taken roots in Odisha, sources in the Department of Excise (DoE) confirmed. The illegal cultivation is undertaken in the interior parts of Angul district, thanks to the windfall profit of Rs 1 crore per acre! So, leaving paddy cultivation people are opting for farming of opium poppy.
With the DoE destroying illegal cultivations of ganja (cannabis) in various parts of the State, smart cultivators have opted for opium poppy plantation in deep jungles of the district, revealed an official.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) authorities were first to find out cultivation of poppy in Birbhum district of neighbouring West Bengal, after which they warned the Odisha Government that poppy plantation might come up in this State given its proximity to West Bengal.
Now, it is confirmed that poppy cultivation has been started in deep and extremely interior zones of Angul, said Principal Secretary, Excise, Sudarshan Pal Thakur.
Going inside the deep jungles and destroying the poppy plantations is highly dangerous as the Maoists are providing protection to these cultivators, point out officials.
However, DoE personnel utilising their intelligence input for the first time detected and destroyed 1.28 lakh opium poppy plants at village Sitikoilee under the Purunakote police station covering an area of three acres.
Similarly, police personnel have destroyed 10,060 poppy plants at Sudugolasara under Chhendipada Police Station and arrested a person. Besides, NCB personnel also seized and destroyed 5,000 poppy plants at Patakamunda under the Chhendipada police station.
The lucrative poppy cultivation is takin place at places like Patakamunda, Chhendipada, Handapa and several other interior parts of the district.
Interestingly, while expenditure per acre of ganja cultivation is Rs 450 to Rs 500 with a profit of Rs 20 to Rs 24 lakh, opium poppy plantation per acre costs as low as Rs 200 to Rs 250 with a rate of return of Rs 1 crore and more, official sources said.
Unless more vigorous raids are conducted in the deep jungles of Angul and nearby areas, the cultivation of poppy would spear in a big way, said an official. So, it has been decided to carry out more raids jointly by excise, forest and police personnel, he said.