30 hectares of poppy cultivation destroyed in Litan
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang

Ukhrul, November 20 2023: A combined team of security forces and government agencies along with volunteers from the Tangkhul civil society organisations started their four-day drive against poppy cultivation in the Mapithel hill range located under Litan Police Station in Ukhrul district on Monday.

On the first day of the drive, 30 hectares of illicit poppy cultivation were decimated and dozens of farm huts and pipelines, as well as other infrastructures used in the cultivation were destroyed through burning.

The coordinated effort garnered strength of 141 participants drawn from Ukhrul police, forest department, 6 Manipur Rifles, 35 Assam Rifles, and Tangkhul CSO volunteers.

The team was led by Ukhrul SP Ningshem Vashum, divisional forest officer Shangam Shaliwo, Addl SP Ringthing Hongchui and other officers.

Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the drive, SP Ningshem Vashum informed that the drive was carried out as this practice is going on at a very large scale in this hill range even after repeated warnings to local villagers to stop cultivation of illicit poppy.

"The team will continue the destruction for the next three days till November 23 and will try to cover maximum destruction of poppy cultivated areas," he said, adding that the, drive was taken up as part of the government's war on drugs.

Stating that the drive was taken up with an intention to completely rid the district of illicit poppy cultivation, Vashum said: "We will continue this drive against poppy Cultivation until this illicit practice is eliminated from the district".

He also warned that stringent legal process will be initiated against the illegal poppy cultivators.

The team used grass cutting blades and bamboo sticks to slice the flowering poppy plants, while herbicide Glyphosate was used to decimate the smaller plants.

The district police department, forest department, Manipur Rifles, Assam Rifles and Tangkhul CSOs have been working together to eradicate the cultivation of poppy in the district.

It may be mentioned that the combined team had carried out a similar drive in the Phalee-Tora-Champhung hill range on November 8, 14 and 15, during which a total of 52 acres of land and 45 huts used by the poppy farmers were destroyed.

Meanwhile, PRO IGAR (S) informed in a release that Assam Rifles assisted in destruction of illicit poppy plantations in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts on Monday.

According to the PRO, as part of the "War on Drugs" campaign, a joint operation executed by Army, Assam Rifles, Ukhrul police and Forest department destroyed poppy cultivation over 30 hectares in areas of Mapithel hill range in Kamjong district located under the jurisdiction of Litan police station, Ukhrul.

The destruction being part of the campaign "War on Drugs" sends a strong message to those explicitly involved in cultivation of illegal poppy in the region, the PRO added.

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