The Andhra Pradesh police, who have prepared an action plan to check cultivation and smuggling of ganja (cannabis) from the Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) and the Agency areas of East Godavari district, are focusing on the ‘Seelavathi’ variety that has good demand in the market.
“Though the cultivators are growing many varieties of ganja in the AOB region, the ‘Seelavathi’ variety commands exceptionally high demand in the national and international markets,” say the police.
According to the officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), ganja is being cultivated in about 41 districts spread over 17 States in the country.
“Apart from ‘Seelavathi’, ‘Raja Hamsa’ and ‘Kala Pathri’ are the other varieties that are grown in the Visakhapatnam Rural and AOB regions,” says an official in the SEB.
“The A.P. Police, in coordination with their counterparts in the neighbouring States, are planning to control ganja cultivation and smuggling completely,” according to Director General of Police D. Gautam Sawang.
“We have identified the cropping area in the AOB region with the help of drones, satellite images and GPS. The police are tracing the cultivators and destroying the ganja fields with the assistance of tribal people,” the DGP adds.
Ganja, also known as marijuana, is being cultivated in Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and a few other States.
Favourable conditions
“The soil, water and atmospheric conditions are favourable to grow the ‘Seelavathi’ variety in the AOB region, which is attracting smugglers from various States,” an Intelligence wing officer told The Hindu.
“Last year, the Odisha police had destroyed ganja fields in about 25,000 acres. They are assisting us in the ongoing ‘Operation Parivarthana’. We are planning to destroy the crop in an equal extent in the month-long operation,” an officer monitoring the special drive said.