Ganja cultivation has come down in A.P., says Home Minister

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister successfully reduces ganja cultivation, seizes marijuana, and transitions families to alternative crops.

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said that the State government was able to control ganja cultivation in the State and the measures taken by it helped in bringing down the cultivation to 100 acres from 11,000 acres. About 40,088 kg of marijuana and 564 vehicles used for its transportation were seized, she said.

The Miniter was replying to a question by Galla Madhavi, Reddappagari Madhavi Reddy, Tenali Sravan Kumar, and Palla Srinivas, in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday. The government identified 20 marijuana hot spots across 375 villages in seven mandals of the State and destroyed around 46 lakh marijuana plants. The families involved in marijuana cultivation were identified and provided counselling, encouraging them to shift to alternative crops. As a result, 359 families now transitioned to growing alternative crops. The government was also cracking down on the transportation of marijuana from neighbouring States, she said.

The Home Minister noted that Punjab and Uttar Pradesh had put in place exemplary measures to control marijuana cultivation, and a team was being sent to Punjab for a study. An inter-State coordination conference with DGPs of border States was planned to be held in Visakhapatnam soon.

Earlier, TDP Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao suggested that the State government take a cue from Uttar Pradesh and demolish the houses of persons involved in ganja cultivation, trade, and transportation.

Responding to it, the Minister said, according to Chapter 5(A) of the NDPS Act, the government was enforcing property confiscation laws. Marijuana production, sale, storage, import, export, transportation, and encouragement or permission of any kind were all considered crimes, she added.