Manipur Cracks Down on Drug Trade: Over 110 Acres of Poppy Fields Destroyed

Imphal (The Uttam Hindu): Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on Friday that a combined team of security forces comprising Police, Forest Department, Assam Rifles and district administration carried out a significant poppy destruction operation in the Khamasom hill ranges under Ukhrul district on Thursday.

He said that besides destroying 110 acres of poppy plantation, eight huts found in the fields were burnt down and an FIR has been registered for further investigation. “A huge shout out to the entire team including the Assam Rifles for their tireless commitment in combating this menace during this trying time. Your hard work and determination are making a significant difference in safeguarding our future,” the Chief Minister said in a post on the X. The state and the Central security forces have intensified their operations to destroy the illegal poppy cultivation in the state and almost daily razed the illicit poppy farming mostly in hilly areas.

On December 7, Assam Rifles in collaboration with the villagers of Saibol Joupi, TM Dingpi, and T Bollon, successfully cleared approximately two square kilometres of illegal poppy cultivation in Chandel district. Manipur Police also in a separate operation on December 7 destroyed 30 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in the Khamason range of Ukhrul District and arrested four persons. For making various drugs, poppy farming is mostly done in the reserve and protected forest destroying the forest and environment. According to a government report, various law enforcement agencies, including Manipur Police, have destroyed 19,135.60 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in the state’s 12 districts between 2017 and 2024.

The report, prepared by Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre (MARSAC), in the mountainous Kangpokpi district, the highest areas of 4,454.4 acres of illegal poppy cultivation were destroyed in the last seven years (2017-2024), followed by 3,348 acres in Ukhrul and 2,713.8 acres in Churachandpur. The MARSAC is an autonomous government institution under the Planning Department of the Manipur government. The report said that deforestation, due to mass poppy cultivation, resulted in several adverse impacts on the ecosystem, including soil erosion, a loss of biodiversity, and changes in the local climate, the report said. The Manipur government on a number of occasions said that the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur (since May last year) is a creation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar adding that these migrants after illegally settling in the state started the cultivation of illicit poppies.