Destroying ganja crops a tough task: Excise and police departments

Visakhapatnam: The special drive of excise and police departments to make Vizag free of cannabis (ganja) has proved an impossible task for them. Though the six-days joint drive of police and excise were successful in destroying the ganja plantation in around 160 acres in Vizag, the enforcement officials said that it is very difficult to root out ganja crop in Vizag region as the crop has spread over 20,000 acres along Vizag region and Andhra Odisha border.

The visit to Urukonda area under Kinchuru Panchayat of Paderu mandal in Vizag Agency, where ganja plantation has been taking place, has revealed that the ganja growers in the area have been getting support (financial and technical) from Tamilians and  natives of Odisha. The tribal farmers in the area have been adopting modern methods (using fertilisers and chemicals besides pipelines for irrigation under gravity mechanism) for better yields for easy money.

Admitting that they have forced to cultivate cannabis, V. Nagaraju, a resident of Urukonda said that development was an eye-wash in their region as most of the youngsters in the region are unemployed and the government failed to show an alternative for livelihood. “Though we are growing the hemp, we have been getting little money whereas the Tamilians and others have turned crorepatis with the ganja smuggling,” he added.

In the tussle between enforcement agencies and big-sharks in the ganja trade, local farmers in Vizag Agency are caught between the devil and the deep sea. “We are leading a pathetic life due to no development and employment activities in our region and we have no option than growing ganja for to meet the minimum requirements, said Killo Dharma, another farmer in Urukonda region.

If government comes up with best alternative measures to improve our livelihood, we will quit the illegal cultivation, he added. Assistant Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise (Enforcement) S.V.V.N. Babji Rao said that with the support of police, forest, and few other departments, they have destroyed over 2.8 lakh ganja plantations in over 160 acres in the past six-days in Vizag Agency.