Notorious for Charas, Kullu district is now producing record quantity of opium, brown sugar and heroin by cultivating poppy plants on big chunk of its land. Weighing the handsome earning from it, many resident of district are looking at poppy cultivation as a good source of earning. Farmers in Kullu have been cultivating poppy for many years, but till now the police could not curb the illegal trade entirely. It’s assuming that poppy is being cultivated in more than 300 acres of land in Kullu including agricultural land and in jungles.
After HP police extra vigil and strict ban on cultivation of Charas in Kullu, still farmers are looking for the big money from the illegal drug. As the police are operating hi-tech operations to control the illegal cultivation of cannabis and poppy, the farmers are getting extra agile in prevention of destruction of their fields. Some farmers were cultivation poppy on contract basis and they were being paid to oversee the crop until its ready to make opium. Now when this illegal drug-trafficking trade has crossed the limit, Kullu police have launched a campaign to destruct the poppy fields at villages and jungles across the district. Revealing some startling figures, police personnel have destructed more than 1.5 lakh poppy plants from around 25 bigha of land only in three days, while the operation is continued. More than 25 cases of NDPS act have been registered against the owners of land and for further proceeding. The maximum cases were registered from the jurisdiction of Bhunter, Banjar and Anni police stations.
