The State government appears to have taken the eradication of cultivation and smuggling of ganja in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam seriously. Based on a well-laid plan, the police and the Department of Prohibition and Excise destroyed over 65 lakh ganja plants, spread across 11 mandals, in the last two months.
The drive began in September as a pilot project, and over 8 lakh plants were destroyed in 14 villages spread over 173 acres. In October, about 11.79 lakh plants were destroyed in 19 villages over 236 acres, and in the last 12 days, about 46 lakh plants were destroyed in 149 villages spread across 1,200 acres.
“The going has been good so far. The concerted effort combining various departments is paying dividend. In the last 22 years, we were able to destroy only about 35 lakh plants, and in last two months we have crossed the 65-lakh mark and we will continue the drive,” said Director of Excise and Prohibition Venkateswara Rao.
It is estimated that ganja is grown in about 10,000 acres in the Agency area. But its concentration is more in mandals such as Pedabayalu, Chintapalle, GK Veedhi and G Madugula, where the CPI (Maoist) hold considerable sway.
A senior Excise officer pointed out that more area could have been covered if the police gave more armed teams.
As of now, the Excise Department has formed nine teams and each team is headed by an Assistant Commissioner rank officer or an Excise Superintendent. Each team comprises 25 to 45 excise officials, one officer from the Revenue Department, one each from the Department of Forest and ITDA and about 35 daily wage workers.
Multi-pronged strategy
Keeping the influence of Maoists in mind, the police have given three teams from the AP Special Police and each team comprises about 20 commandos.
The government has also provided a budget of ₹1 crore to take up the drive.
While destruction of crop is just one part of the strategy, the excise and the police are also working on the enforcement drive.
According to S.V.V.N. Babji, Assistant Commissioner of Excise (Enforcement), ganja is grown in two cycles from August to December. It is then dried and smuggled out the Agency areas to other States and cities. “We are now focussing on the route watches and check-posts,” he said.
In the Agency area, there are about 11 check-posts belonging to the Department of Forests. Efforts are on modernise these check-posts.
It is learnt that the police and the excise departments are working in tandem to address the manual transportation that is done by the Adivasis through head loads.
Drones
The Excise Department is also in talks with the Agriculture Department for use of drones for chemical spraying of ganja fields in the interior parts.
