Cuttack, Oct. 20: Police and the excise department are having a difficult time wiping out ganja trade as its cultivation has been shifted to new areas in the state.
By the end of September, cannabis plantation on nearly 2,457 acres had been destroyed against the target of 3,050 acres fixed for 2015-16. The excise department and the police had jointly destroyed cannabis cultivation on 3,768 acres against the target of 3,000 acres in 2014-15.
Sources said that as there has been a change in the cultivation pattern from traditional pockets to the new areas, there was usually a delay in getting information about the cultivation and subsequent measures for its destruction. Hence, the stress was on strengthening the intelligence gathering mechanism, especially by revenue and forest officials. This was discussed at a conference organised by the crime branch here today.
The conference aimed to chalk out a comprehensive plan and discuss proactive measures to prevent cultivation and destruction of cannabis and poppy during the upcoming crop season.
Senior officials, however, said the target fixed would be achieved only by launching intensive drives in the next two months. "We have come up with a strategy to identify the new locations and financers from in and outside the state sponsoring the cultivation here. We will make extensive use of technology with assistance from the Odisha Space Application Centre to locate such zones," said director-general of police K.B. Singh.
Cannabis is cultivated in 10 districts — Angul, Deogarh, Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Boudh, Kandhamal and Cuttack.
Special director-general of police (crime branch) B.K. Sharma, however, said that due to the proactive measures, the mafia behind the ganja trade had started shifting to newer areas over the past two years.
Cannabis cultivation that used to be carried out in a rampant manner in Angul district has of late decreased. It has now shifted to Boudh and Kandhamal and even parts of Nayagarh and the rural pockets of Cuttack district.
