Visakhapatnam: After taking various measures to curb the Ganja menace, under Visakhapatnam Range jurisdiction, the police now intend to incorporate a ‘Brahmastra’ to prevent ganja cultivation, transportation and consumption.

In line with it, the police intend to include people’s participation in tackling the major challenge faced in the erstwhile Visakhapatnam and neighbouring districts.

Youngsters are going to play a proactive role not only in creating awareness among masses but also passing the information about peddlers to the police.

For the past one year, the Visakhapatnam Range police reached out to 3,000 educational institutions and carried out 11,000 awareness programmes on the implications of ganja menace. Nabbing the peddlers, seizing their properties and encouraging tribals to eradicate ganja cultivation were some of the extensive programmes carried out by the police.

However, despite several measures taken for curbing cannabis abuse and transportation, the police mentioned that they were not getting desired results. “Ganja eradication should go beyond surveillance of the police which includes controlling its transportation, cultivation and consumption. For the past one year, the police booked 694 cases and arrested 1,945 accused persons. In all, 40,063 kg of ganja was seized. However, despite the efforts taken through awareness drives and strict surveillance, results are not that effective,” opined Gopinath Jatti, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Visakhapatnam Range.

But the DIG expressed confidence that the eradication of ganja would be more effective when people come forward to tip off and join hands with the police to offer support. This includes passing on information to the police on cultivation of ganja, transportation and consumption. “The police will also admit drug addicts to deaddiction centres and help them overcome their addiction. But when people volunteer to offer support, the campaign will become even more impactful,” the DIG underlined.

Using technology like drones, identifying hotspots and increasing surveillance, the police also intend to seek the support of NGOs to derive desired outcomes in ganja eradication.

Reaching out to ganja cultivators, the police are extensively focusing on recommending alternative crops, creating livelihood opportunities to the youth involved in cannabis cultivation and transportation along with making people understand the implications of ganja menace through awareness drives. With people’s participation, the DIG informed that the agenda is to eradicate ganja completely in the region.