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| Forest department's offensive against Drug Mafia | | Cannabis cultivation on 100 kanals destroyed | | Early Times Report
Kupwara, May 24 : Forest Department in its offensive against drug mafia in North Kashmir's Kupwara district has freed more than 100 kanals of forest land from illegal encroachment and the cannabis (charas , bhang) cultivated in the said land has also been destroyed by the officials of the department in Lolab Kandi. Cannabis (Bhang) cultivation has been going unattended in Kupwara and the drug mafia have encroached hundreds of kanals of forest land in several areas of this North Kashmir district particularly Lolab belt to undertake cultivation of this banned crop. Usually the cannabis cultivation is cultivated in plain regions , but from the last many years this poisonous crop is being cultivated on commercial basis in almost one dozen areas in Lolab belt which is mostly covered with dense and think forests. The hand of strong drug mafia cannot be ruled out say the locals.The drug mafia in association with some locals have cut down hundreds of kail and Fir trees in the jungles and upper reaches of Lolab valley bordering Bandipora and after clearing the place the land is used for cultivation of Cannabis and poppy. This illegal activity has been continuing for quite some time now and authorities seem to be unaware about all these illegal activities. As per authentic reports the upper reaches of Lolab area where the locals would be involved in illegal timber trade have now started growing Bung (cannabis) and Poppy in many areas especially those location which are located all away from the villages and some of these Cannabis fields can be found near Munglu , Rajpora , Rampora in upper Dever area of Lolab. A stretch of around 7 to 8 kms has been occupied by the drug mafia to grow Cannabis and Poppy People hailing from Devar and Dardpora villages of Loab in Kupwara district are said to be involved in this illegal trade from last many years and the authorities seem to be unaware of all this illegal trade ."Green trees are being felled down to clear the space for making land cultivable in Nagmarg area which adjoins Bumus meadow of Bandipora. Hundreds of kanals of Forest land has been converted into agriculture land in this area and people grow potatoes etc on this forest land. The biggest problem is that from last couple of years some people have started growing Bung and Popy and for this purpose also at least 300 kanals of Forest land has been illegally occupied by some people" said a local resident of Dever village .As per reliable information from a group who had gone for trekking in the area a few days ago, the Bung (cannabis) , and Popy cultivation is being undertaken on massive scale in the Nagmarg belt which is located at a height of around towards Kupwara district. "The other side located towards Bandipora is absolutely clear and no such encroachment has been made. We saw with our own eyes that organic manure was being poured on the Bung crop in this area and when we went near the fields, people working in the fields ran away leaving behind their tools and pherans " said Fayaz Ahmad a local resident of Dever Some trekkers who had gone to upper reaches of Lolab have recently taken pictures in the area and even they tried to destroy the crop , but the growth of the crop being too small and area being massive prevented them from undertaking such activity . As the pictures went viral on facebook the IGP Kashmir Javaid M Gillani assured action. After the pictures of the illegal cultivation of Cannabis went viral on social networking site facebook , the Conservator of Forests North Kashmir Mian Javaid Hussain had assured to send his team in the area to destroy this crop . Several teams have been constituted by the DFO's of Kehmil and Lolab divisions and in their two days offensive cannabis cultivated on more than 100 kanals of land was freed. " If the crop is destroyed fully it will fully grow by August and will be too difficult to destroy it then. We also appeal authorities to book all the involved people under PSA who are involved in this illegal trade " said Sajad Ahmad from Sogam Kupwara |
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