The district administration is gearing up to tackle the smuggling of ganja in the agency. Officials are preparing an action plan to destroy hemp plantations in the agency areas.
A few days back, this decision was taken in the recently held Hemp Crop Destruction Coordination meeting at the Collectorate.
District Collector A. Mallikarjuna told the officials that the state government was focusing on curbing ganja smuggling. He said that there is a need to stop the cultivation of hemp in the agency and motivate the farmers to take alternative crops. He stressed the need for the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), Police, Forest Department, Revenue, Secretariat staff and Sarpanches to coordinate and work towards destroying the ganja plantations. He directed the enforcement agencies to take strict action against the accused involved in smuggling ganja.
SEB DIG Rama Krishna said that wherever ganja is caught in the country, according to reports, ganja is smuggled from Visakhapatnam agency. He said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is very serious on this issue. He said that the authorities should identify the places where hemp is being cultivated and the plantations should be destroyed immediately.
“Hemp plantations are estimated to be cultivated over 10,000 acres in the internal agency areas. The crop is ready for harvesting between October and December. The teams should prepare an action plan and conduct raids to destroy the plantations,” he said.
Shri Ram Krishna expressed concern over the smuggling of ganja or hash oil from the agency. He said that awareness camps should be increased by distributing pamphlets and making videos giving information about the ill-effects of indulging in ganja smuggling.
The DIG said that a special nodal officer should be appointed to carry out these tasks and additional check-posts should be made to trace the cases in the agency.
Superintendent of Police B Krishna Rao, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) project officer R Gopal Krishna, officials of forest, revenue and other departments were present.
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