Combined team destroys 51 acres of poppy plantations
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, November 16 2023:
Illicit poppy cultivations, which were detected carried out in 51 acres of land in Phalee-Tora-Champhung hill range in Ukhrul district along with 45 huts used by the poppy farmers were destroyed by security forces during special drives on November 8, 14 and 15 as part of the "War on Drugs" campaign.
According to police report, a combined team of Ukhrul district police, 6 Manipur Rifles (MR), Forest department and 35 Assam Rifles destroyed the poppy cultivations found carried out in 16 acres of land in Phalee-Tora-Champhung hill range along with burning down 20 huts used by the planters, on November 14 .
On Wednesday too, the team in addition to setting ablaze 25 huts, destroyed poppy plantations in around 15 acres of land while a combined team of Ukhrul district police, Forest department and personnel of 6 MR destroyed 20 acres of poppy plantations in the same hill ranges.
According to officials, the government is continuing to destroy illicit poppy cultivation in the state.
While reminding that chief minister N Biren had often stated that illegal immigrants and drug peddlers including Myanmar nationals are involved in mass poppy farming and forest destruction in Manipur, the officials said that the destruction teams, sprayed herbicides destroying 31 hectares of illicit poppy fields at Tora Champhung Hill Range.
During the joint operations other infrastructure including pipeline connections, fertilisers, salt, herbicides, and pesticides were destroyed.
The Chief Minister, while talking to the media, said that the state government is intensifying its war on drugs and will not stop until the drugs menace is completely rooted out from the state.
The over six-month long ethnic violence was started after the Manipur government during March-April started destruction of illegal poppy cultivation and launched the eviction drive against the encroachers who illegally occupied the reserve and protected forest lands in the mountainous areas of the state.
The Chief Minister earlier stated that evictions from forest lands were done in the state to preserve forests, considering the deteriorating climatic conditions.
He had said that the state government never targeted a particular community.
The enormity of the drug menace has reached such a height that out of the state's population of 28 lakhs, the number of drugs-affected youths is around 1.4 lakh.
Manipur, which shares around 400 km of unfenced border with Myanmar, has also become a gateway of illegal drugs-smuggling into India, the state government officials said.
Since 2017, around hundreds of encroachers have been evicted from forest land in Imphal East, Kangpokpi, Thoubal and Noney districts.
People belonging to Meitei, Kuki, Pangal (Manipuri Muslim), and Kabui tribes have been evicted from the forest lands.
A Manipur government official on Thursday said that the state government under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has arrested around 2,518 people in between 2017 to 2023 .
The arrested people include Kuki-Chin, Muslims, Meiteis and other communities.
Poppy cultivation in Manipur stood at 15,496.8 acres.
The Kuki-Chin community inhabited area in 2022-23 accounted for 804 acres and Naga people inhabited area was 350 acres.
In 2017-18, the Kuki Chin area accounted for 2,001 acres and Nagas' 229 acres.
Meanwhile, PRO IGAR (S) informed that under the aegis of IGAR (S), security forces assisted in destruction of illicit poppy cultivation spanning over 40 acres in Ukhrul district on Wednesday.
In a release, the PRO said that in an operation executed by Security Forces, Ukhrul police and Forest department as part of the "War on Drugs" campaign, poppy cultivations were destroyed in areas between Phadang and Champhung village in Ukhrul district which was initially discovered in a joint survey on November 1 .