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| Around 2500 Kanals of land under cannabis cultivation in South Kashmir, says Excise Officer | | | SAAHIL SUHAIL
EARLY TIMES REPORT
ANANTNAG, Aug 26: Around 2500 kanals of land is under cannabis cultivation in several areas of South Kashmir, the Excise and Taxation officials told Early Times on Wednesday.
“This year approximately 2500 Kanals of land is under cannabis cultivation in South Kashmir. We have launched a major drive for destroying the crop and so far cleared over 1000 kanals of land in Shopain and Bijbehara,” Saleem Akbar, who heads Excise and Taxation Department in South Kashmir, told Early Times over phone. He said that the department has pressed 25 brush cutters for destroying the crop in Bijbehara and Melhora area of South Kashmir. “In Melhora Shopain cannabis is cultivated on around 1500 kanals of land. This year we started destroying the crop much earlier. So for we have freed 581 Kanals of land from this illicit crop,” he said. Similarly, he said, standing cannabis crops were destroyed in few villages of Bijbehara. “We started destroying the crop of Dupthyar village of Bijbehara. So far cannabis crop cultivated on around 514 kanals of land have been destroyed by the joint team,” he said.
Police and Revenue department is assisting the department in destroying the crop, said Saleem Akbar.
He said that in the year 2018-19, cannabis crop cultivated on around 4000 kanals of land were destroyed.
“We don’t have actual details with us. We primarily get such details from the Revenue Department,” he added.
He said that they have written to the Revenue Department and requested them to provide the details of cannabis cultivators and the quantum of land on which it is cultivated to police.
Saleem Akbar thanked the youth of Qimoh Kulgam who volunteered to destroy the wild cannabis crop in the area. “We provided them machinery and they voluntarily destroyed it,” he said.
Sources revealed to Early Times that at Bijbehara the revenue patwaris haven’t provided any such details neither to the department nor to the Revenue Department.
“Revenue patwaris were directed to provide details but they didn’t provide,” an employee told Early Times at Tehsil Bijbehara.
A group of concerned citizens claimed that the cannabis crop destroyed by the joint teams was still being put into use. “The destroyed plants are dried up by the farmers and later the same is being grinded and sold in the local market. It is locally called Garda and has very high market value,” they said, suggesting that the department should put the destroyed crop on fire if they are truly serious in eliminating the cultivation of illicit cannabis crop.
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