Imphal: Joining hands with the massive drive of the state government’s campaign ‘War against Drugs’ to end poppy cultivation, villagers of Tumuyon Khullen in Manipur’s Senapati district have reportedly destroyed a poppy plantation approximately worth Rs 45-50 crore.
According to local resident Joseph, the drive was carried out by Tumuyon Khullen village authority council along with Tumuyon Khullen Youth Club over the last few days within the village jurisdiction with an aim to completely uproot the poppy plants in support of Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s clarion call to end illegal drugs, including poppy cultivation, in the state.
The illicit poppy fields measuring around 10 hectares were destroyed for the sixth time and it took three to four days, he added.
The poppy plantations were carried out illegally within the village jurisdiction by some tenants and outsiders despite repeated warnings, said Joseph.
A representation on the report on destruction of poppy plantation at the Tumuyon Khullen village on war against drugs, signed by village chairman A Maraiba and secretary RK Lovingson, was submitted to the chief minister through Kangpokpi DC Zuringla Kengoo.
“The village authority, in our own capacity, had organised a sensitisation mission against the illegal plantation of poppy, in collaboration with the village youth club, and destroyed poppy plantation at the village land area, acting as an agent and support to the ‘War against Drugs’ mission of the state government,” the statement said.
The Tumuyon Khullen village authority and its youth club further assured their full cooperation to the government in the war against drugs in the state.
The villagers also claimed that they have already spent over Rs 6 lakh while destroying the poppy plantation in and around the village land area.
Kangpokpi Deputy Commissioner Zuringla Kengoo lauded the initiative of the village authority and the youths actively involved in the destruction and choosing ‘life over drugs’.
DC Kengoo encouraged other villages to also take such steps so that the state’s youth remain safe from the ill effects of narcotics and drugs.
It may be noted that with the surge of illegal poppy cultivation and excessive use of chemical fertilisers, it has become a major reason for soil degradation and frequent landslides in the the state, especially in the hills.
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