A large number of poppy cultivators in remote Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh have voluntarily come forward to destroy their illegal cultivations in response to the state governments initiative, official sources said today. The state government in its budget last year announced to provide alternative livelihood to villagers who had to take up poppy cultivation for economic sustenance as well as for use in traditional rituals. Considered as an endemic district in terms of poppy cultivation and use of opium, a total of 104 people have come forward till date to voluntarily join the 'Mission Against Opium launched in the district last month, they said. Poppy plants have been uprooted from more than 33 fields by a team of officers from the district administration along with cultivators in over 25 villages of the district, they said. The voluntary drive has indicated a positive turn by people who were seen to have been using opium traditionally for various rituals and medicinal purpose.
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