No steps to curb ganja cultivation

BHUBANESWAR: Even as Naxalites gain an upper hand in Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks of Koraput district, the State Government seems to have taken no steps to curb the large-scale ganja cultivation in the southern districts which has emerged as the main source of funding for the ultras.

The fact that ganja cultivation goes unchecked in the hilly and inaccessible areas of these districts was brought to the fore in the report of Justice PK Mohanty Commission of Inquiry into activities and operations of drug mafias.

The then additional director-general police Amarananda Patnaik had submitted an inquiry report as requested to the Commission in which he had mentioned that there is largescale transportation of ganja from these areas to other places.

According to the report, ganja was being transported from Chitrakonda-Gobindpali- Ramgir to Raipur via Ambabhona-Bargarh.

The second route of such ganja transaction is Kalimela-Malkangiri-Boipariguda-Jeypore through Kalahandi-Bargarh to Raipur. The third route originated from Nandapur in Koraput district.

All these areas through which the ganja routes pass are Naxalite-affected. The report even mentioned the name of a frontal organisation which has since been banned for supporting the extensive cultivation of ganja in the hilly and inaccessible areas of Gajapati district.

But the State Government seems to have sidestepped the issue as there was no mention of it in its action taken report (ATR) placed in the Assembly last year. The ATR said that the Excise Department has been requested to counter the drug trafficking and also make arrangements for participation of the Excise officials in the training programmes organised by the Home Department.

The issue has again come to the centrestage following the growing activities of the Naxalites in the area. Reports reaching here said that ganja cultivation is going on unhindered in the inaccessible and hilly areas of the region and there is no action by government agencies to curb this.
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