Itanagar, Apr 8 : In a major operation, the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) has destroyed 450 hectare of opium (Kani) cultivation in three districts- Upper Siang, Lohit and Tirap of Arunachal Pradesh , bordering Myanmar. The operation carried out by the CBN in association with the Arunachal Pradesh Government took nearly 10 days to complete it.
The CBN’s move came in the wake of increasing opium trafficking along the Indo-Myanmar border. Altogether 1,000 families were involved in the cultivation in the three districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The destroyed opium will be around Rs 36 crore on the international market. Last year also a similar kind of operation was carried out in Wakka and Pangchau in which nearly 1000 hectare of opium cultivation were destroyed.
Opium is cultivated in Arunachal, Nagaland and some parts of Manipur in the region. As the demand for opium has been increasing gradually among the people in the North East and Myanmar, more and more people are now involved in opium trading. The people are involved in opium cultivation and business to earn their livelihood as they are not at all economically sound.
According to a rough estimate there are about two lakh opium addicts in the North East. Singpho community is said to be worst affected by opium. Moreover, Adi and Mismi people also consume opium. Since opium cultivation is a traditional practice for which they do not want give it up.
Highly-placed official sources who did not wish to be named told this correspondent that opium is a big menace in the region as cultivation area is increasing gradually. Citing reasons for involvement of more people in opium, they said that the opium has a big market in the entire South East Asian countries that is also encouraging the people to cultivate more. “The people who are involved in opium trade should be provided alternative source of income to cope with the menace,” they opined. In this context, they said that drug enforcing agencies have been carrying out operations since 2,000, but they have not been able to eradicate the problem. “We are of the view that the respective Governments should provide employment to the people , otherwise it will take a serious turn,” the sources added.
Another important fact is that the difficult terrain in the region is also helping the people to cultivate opium. The area is infested by underground groups and therefore the drug enforcing agencies are facing hardships to launch full-scale operation.
AT
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