'Matru Shakti' initiative to curb drug menace in Puri

BHUBANESWAR: Puri police launched an initiative under the aegis of Matru Shakti to curb drug menace in the pilgrim town. Some local women will be identified as Matru Shakti volunteers and report against drug trafficking in their areas.
"The broader objective of the initiative is to have community participation in our drive against drugs. With sustained and focused community participation in general and taking the help of Matru Shakti volunteers of various Sahis (streets) in particular, we want to make Puri town drug free," Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh said after the project's launch.

The Matru Shakti volunteers will conduct awareness drives against substance abuse with the help of police and keep tabs on drug peddlers as well as addicts in their neighbourhoods.
The volunteers will work in close coordination with the nodal officers of police stations. Women officers of the mahila and sishu desks of each police station will conduct regular patrolling on Pink Scooty in vulnerable areas, especially in Narendra Kona locality., Singh said.
Under the Matru Shakti programme, the police will facilitate de-addiction and counselling of the addicts. “Assistance of the social welfare wing of the government has been taken for successful implementation of the programme. Trained counsellors will be engaged for counselling of the addicts. Several de-addiction centres have extended their cooperation to us for the success of the program,” the SP said. The district social welfare officer (DSWO) will act as single point contact for counselling and assistance in de-addiction and rehabilitation matters.
Police said their sustained enforcement drives against drug peddling have yielded good results. The police registered 39 cases, arrested 84 people, including women and seized 6.6 kg brown sugar and 62 kg ganja (combined worth Rs 7 crore) this year.
In May this year, the Baselisahi police seized around 3 kg of brown sugar worth around Rs 3 crore, the highest ever haul in any district so far, and arrested three notorious peddlers.