Use of herbicide to destroy poppies concerns LEWA
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, January 20 2023:
Lamding Educated Welfare Association (LEWA) has urged the government to use an alternative to weedi-cide/herbicide in destroying illegal poppy cultivation.
In a release, LEWA president S Ojit Singh said that people of the state have been commending the government on witnessing video clips of mass poppy destruction drive uploaded on social media apart from seizure of drugs.
However, the use of weedicide in drone for destroying the poppy cultivation has caused distress among the people as the chemical-based weedicide, which is like a poison, will eventually drain into the rivers during the monsoons, thus making the water of the rivers harmful for human use.
Moreover, usage of herbicide/weedicide will hinder the natural growth process of other plants in the hill areas and subsequently cause soil erosion, Ojit said.
He further pointed out that there is high chance of eroded soil filled with poisonous weedicide falling into the Loktak Lake, thereby leading to further degeneration of the largest fresh water lake in the northeast India as well.
Taking into consideration of all these possible scenarios, Ojit appealed to authorities concerned for using other alternative to weedicide for destroying poppy cultivation.