10acre poppy cultivation destroyed in Manipur

IMPHAL: Intensifying the Manipur government’s “War on drugs”, a combined team of Kangpokpi district’s forest division and the district police destroyed around 10 acres of illegal poppy cultivation at the Kanglatongbi Kangpokpi Reserved Forest (KKRF) hill ranges on Thursday.
The range forest officer of the district (Motbing Range), who led the team, has already started the process to file an FIR against those involved with poppy cultivation, a Kangpokpi forest division statement said.Efforts to crack down on illegal activities and poppy cultivation will continue, it added.
The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) , Kangpokpi forest division, N Ganesh warned those fringe villages of KKRF, that stern action would be taken against those who indulge in poppy cultivation in the reserved forest areas.
An investigation would be initiated by the division in coordination with police and its unit, narcotic and affairs of border (NAB), and the culprits would be booked under both Indian Forest Act, 1927 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
Lauding the forest staff for their vigil on the reserved forests, Ganesh said that real-time monitoring of the reserved forest, based on satellite imagery, every fortnight is the need of the hour, given the vast tracts of forest lands and poor forest staff strength.
The DFO reiterated that as per Section 26 of Indian Forest Act, 1927, trespassing, making fresh clearings, breaking up of land for cultivation or other purposes inside a reserved forest are prohibited, added the statement.