16,577 acres of poppy plantations destroyed in 7 years
Source: Chronicle News Service / Sagolsem Bigyan

Imphal, December 31 2023: Since the inception of the BJP-led government around seven years back in 2017, poppy plantation spread over 16,577.368 acres of land particularly in the hill areas have been destroyed as part of government's 'War on Drug' campaign.

As per a report of NAB Manipur, poppy plantation spread over 16,577.368 acre land in 12 out of 16 districts of the state except Imphal West, Jiribam, Thoubal and Pherzawl were decimated in between January 1, 2017 to December 30, 2023 .

However, areas in Imphal East district where poppy plantation were destroyed fell under Kangpokpi revenue district, those in Bishnupur district fell under Churachandpur revenue district and in Kakching district under in Chandel revenue district.

All the areas in Imphal East, Kakching and Bishnupur districts where poppy plantations were destroyed fell under police stations of the respective districts.

Ukhrul district topped the chart in district-wise destruction of poppy plantation followed by Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Churachandpur.

In Ukhrul district, a total of 3,768 acre of poppy plantation were destroyed in the said period while a total 2,800 acre poppy plantation were ravaged in Kangpokpi district.

In the same period, a total of 2,491 acre poppy plantations were destroyed in Tengnoupal district and 2,058.8 acre in Churachandpur district.

Poppy plantation spread Over 1,852.168 acre land in Imphal East district but falling under Kangpokpi revenue district were also destroyed in the same period as also 285 acre areas in Bishnupur district but fell under Churachandpur revenue district and 39.5 acre area in Kakching district under Chandel revenue district.

In the same period, 911 acres of poppy plantation in Senapati, 509 acres in Kamjong, 12 acres in Noney and 42 acres in Tamenglong districts were also destroyed.

The NAB report further said destruction of poppy plantation spread over 3,431.375 acre areas in the year 2021 was highest annual destruction in the past seven years since 2017 followed by second highest in year 2023 with 3,009.6 acre followed by the year 2022 with destruction of 3,002.893 acre.

A total of 447 acre poppy plantations in the year 2017 were destroyed while 1,915 acre were destroyed in the year 2018, 2436 acre in 2019 and 2,346.5 acre in 2020 .

Between January 1 and December 30, 2023, poppy plantation spread over 103.9 acres in Imphal East district but fell under Kangpokpi revenue district were destroyed.

In the same period, poppy plantation spread over 742.4 acres in Kangpokpi district were destroyed as also in 310.5 acres in Chandel district, 566 acres in Tengnoupal district, 541.8 acres in Churachandpur district, 462 acres in Ukhrul district, 39 acres in Senapati district, 190 acres in Kamjong district, 12 acres in Noney district and 42 acres in Tamenglong district, the NAB report mentioned.

The report further mentioned that poppy plantation spread over 2,583.6 acres in different parts of the state were destroyed between January and March, 2023 and 426 acres poppy plantations in Ukhrul, Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Senapati and Kamjong districts were destroyed between November and December 30, 2023 .

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