AGARTALA, Jan 21 (TIWN): Aiming to curb down the Ganja plantation in the Sonamura, in a joint venture of Tripura Police, BSF, Forest Department and Administration has been conducting special drive in various major area.

Talking to TIWN correspondent, Sonamura SDM Panna Ahmed on Wednesday said that the drive for curbing the Ganja plantation under the Sonamura Sub-Division has been continuing.

Stressing over the continuous drive in the area, Sonamura SDM said that on January 19 also they have conducted a drive and destroyed around five thousand cannabis (ganja) cultivation spread across the area at Melaghar.

He further mentioned that the market cost of the cannabis will be over rupees one crore.

Based on intelligence inputs, narcotics sleuths with the help of state authorities and the BSF nd Tripura Police destroyed cannabis (ganja) cultivation under Sonamura subdivisions in Sepahijala District of Tripura recently.

Besides, he also mentioned that further initiatives will be taken to curb the massive rise in Ganja plantation across the State.

Talking to TIWN correspondent, mentioning about his experience in the Ganaja elimination drive SDM of Kamalpur Subhasis Das Chakraborty on Wednesday said that his drive against the elimination is incomplete. Before his transfer he could not complete the drive but the drive against the Ganja plantation is still continuing.

He further mentioned that during the drive against the massive Ganja plantation the administration has managed to bring under control up to certain limit.

However, no arrest has been made in connection with the case and police added that a search operation has been continuing to arrest the owner of the plantation, said sources.

Cannabis is grown on a large scale in interior and inaccessible areas of the region, particularly in Sonamura and Boxanagar and also in many parts of the State. Since most of these plantations are tucked away in hills and forests, government agencies have a tough time destroying these.

When it comes to narcotics, no amount of laws seems to be enough to reign in the production and distribution of banned substances.  People cultivate the Ganja plants and do business for crores and also smuggle to Bangladesh to fetch hefty amount of money.

While hundreds of smugglers based in Tripura are sending spurious Phensedyl, a cough syrup, with an exceedingly high dose of codeine and other drugs to Bangladesh virtually by the truckload, hundreds of acres of remote land in West Tripura have become sprawling ganja plantations.

However, despite several government agencies are coordinating the drive and making people aware of the hazards of its cultivation but it remains a lucrative business smuggled mainly to Bangladesh.