A government employee destroys illegally cultivated cannabis at Dupatyar in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Aug 17, 2014. (Photo: IANS)
New Delhi, November 9 (IANS): There are multiple agencies which are burning the midnight oil to put an end to the drug menace across India.
Operations led by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the state police have been busting several narcotics modules in a bid to make India free of drugs by 2029, a vision of the Narendra Modi-led government.
An official said that the modus operandi of the agencies has shifted from mere arrests and seizures, and there is an equal emphasis on destroying sites that cultivate illicit cannabis and opium.
The NCB has been utilising satellite mapping systems, which have helped the agency in pinpointing high-altitude farms producing these narcotics.
Following the go-ahead by the Union Home Ministry, the NCB began using satellite mapping to identify such fields as traffickers would attempt to hide these fields deep inside the mountains so that they could avoid tracking.
The use of specialised imaging sensors helps in pinpointing these fields from space, the official said.
On November 7, the NCB along with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Arunachal Pradesh Police wiped out 458 acres of illicit cannabis cultivation.
This follows the first phase of the programme that was held in October, during which 1.37 lakh kilograms of cannabis plants grown mainly on community lands were destroyed. Data would show that with this latest action, the total area of cannabis destroyed across Arunachal Pradesh in 2026 has surged to more than eight times when compared to 2025.
Another official said that during various high-level meetings held between the agencies and top officials of the Home Ministry, it was decided to prepare the Vision Document (2026-2029).
This mandates identifying cultivation hotspots and carrying out synchronised crop destruction operations.
Similar operations have been carried out in Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and other states in recent months.
In Himachal Pradesh, the tracking has focused on rugged and hard-to-reach valleys. Coordinated efforts have led to the clearance of 592 acres of concealed illicit cannabis setups.
In Odisha, under the state’s Mission Zero Cannabis Cultivation framework, 30 acres of operational fields that were hidden deep in the Kandhamal district were destroyed by the agencies.
Similar operations have been carried out in Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Bihar.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that these operations follow in the footsteps of what the agencies are doing when it comes to the narcotic cartels.
While nabbing big and small players alike, the agencies are focusing on wiping out the supply chain. Seizures and arrests are very much necessary, but not enough in the long run.
The agencies have realised that recruiting new operatives is no big deal for the narcotic cartels. With new recruits, the drug trade goes on unabated without bottlenecks.
Similar is the case when it comes to seizures. Cartels are able to produce in large numbers and make up for the seizures.
However, halting the supply chains, blocking routes, and destroying fields that cultivate drugs goes a long way in battling the menace. The single bust driven by satellite tracking in Arunachal Pradesh wiped out 458 acres of high-yielding cannabis plants. This has translated into a direct loss of 137,000 kilograms of produce before it could come into the market. The multiple agencies working to shut down the narcotics market have a huge task on hand. Cartels will look to innovate, and the trick would be to get the better of them and achieve a drug-free India by 2029, an official said.
