NEWS ARCHIVES

Crackdown on Poppy Cultivation

MANDI: The biggest-ever crackdown has been launched by the Department of Customs, Amritsar, against the cultivation of opium poppy in the Chuhar valley of this district. On April 25, a 60-member contingent of the Customs Department, including armed personnel, descended on the valley and set up its control room at Jhatingri at a height of 6000 ft. The operation was launched next day. It will continue till the entire crop is destroyed, says Mr K.N. Bhardwaj, Superintendent, Customs, Kulu.

During a visit to the valley it was observed that almost every household had grown opium poppy on large tracks of their cultivable land. The crop was so extensively grown that in some villages 90 to 100 per cent land was under opium poppy.

As the area is backward with poor medical services, village elders also reportedly used opium with herbs as a medicine, particularly for the children.

Intriguingly, for the past three years, people have switched over to poppy cultivation on a large-scale. It is learnt that opium mafia motivated the farmers to grow poppy by assuring them good returns. They reportedly supplied to them hybrid seed and money for raising the crop. The villagers, however, did not disclose the identity of the mafia. They admitted that people from the plains collected their produce. They also said that they only produced poppy seed and never made opium.

The farmers were not aware that cultivation of poppy was an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Two days after the Customs authorities started the operation the state police and the Narcotic Control Board, Chandigarh, launched a parallel drive to destroy the poppy crop. Mr Satinder Pal Singh, SSP, Mandi and Superintendent, NCB, Chandigarh, Mr Om Prakash, led the operation.

As the teams of the Customs, the police and the NCB advanced deep into the valley they were stunned to see large areas under poppy crop. Their initial estimate that they would finish the operation within a fortnight or so proved wrong. As they trekked from one village to the other they found large poppy cultivation ahead. Some members of the teams were down with fatigue while others fell ill in the hostile weather. So far the poppy crop has been destroyed in Dharmed, Dharmed Gallu, Thaltukhod, Silbadhani, Karsed, Kungad, Suad, Graman, Tikkar, Kampana, Kased, Bhulang, Ghatian, Briyan, Jhallan, Tarsen, Bajgan, Shamli, Mulin, Singhdhar, Bhangdag, Adhong, Kshamti, Markhan, Karsiyan, Sahum, Khundra, Deodhar and Korteng.

The Customs officials feel that the chuhar valley had perhaps the largest poppy cultivation in the country and to destroy it was an uphill task. They had maintained in the beginning of the operation that the twin objective of the operation was to destroy poppy and to educate people that opium production was against the law. Now they realise that to destroy the whole crop was not that easy. The Commissioner, Customs, Mr R. Bhattacharya, who also visited the valley, has issued an ultimatum to the growers through revenue officials and Panchayati Raj institutions that the farmers should destroy the poppy crop within three days failing which proceedings could be initiated against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

According to the British Foreign Office, Asia could soon become one of the main consumers of drugs. The recently formed European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction is a step in the right direction which should be emulated by other nations of the world.

The Tribune - 19-05-2003