His crusade against drugs goes on. From enforcement, awareness, motivation to alternative development, he has tried it all, over the last one and a half decade, making a lot of difference on ground.

Om Prakash Sharma, 51, a former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Officer from tribal belt Pangi in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh had much to celebrate on this International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Monday.

But the struggle is not over yet.

The hill state has sprawling illegal fields of cannabis and opium private and government land, mainly in upper reaches of Kullu, and Mandi. For locals, it is a source of easy money so they are neck deep into drug peddling with foreigners. It is a socio-economic and political battle that needs convergence of government agencies and society,” Sharma told The Statesman.

He sought voluntary retirement from parent Central Excise department in 2017 and is presently living in Mehla in Bharmour, busy with campaign on alternative development models (including organic farming) among farmers, along with his agenda against drugs.

Sharma, popularly known as OP, himself came from a very poor farming background.

Though he has been a whistle blower against wrongs in society since childhood, the deputation with NCB as Superintendent at Chandigarh from 2002-2007 made him a spirited and persistent fighter against drugs. He handled Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and HP from there and was instrumental in catching major consignments of drugs being routed through Punjab from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and those from HP by foreigners. He made 57 seizures, all through personal surveillance, including a big 155 kilograms charas at Chandigarh, which was being smuggled out from Kullu by an Israeli and was destined for Amsterdam, and 2.5 kg capsules of heroine from Pakistan.

HP being his home state, Sharma gave major push to crackdown against cultivation of cannabis and opium, processing and pedalling in Kullu valley, while in NCB.

He intervened in Malana, a village (uphill Kullu) infamous for drug trafficking across the world, by forming a ‘Malana Vikalp’ co-operative society to make the Malanis shift to cash crops for income could yield some results. However, the lack of back-up by state agencies posed a hurdle.

Sharma has since been doing sensitisation programmes on drugs for locals and policy makers. He does share intelligence with state Police on drugs off and on, but is critical of state’s seriousness so far on the issue. “I have been trying to sensitise state agencies, even with the help of Institute for Narcotic Studies and Analysis, Delhi. The policy makers need to wake up and come out with a comprehensive plan to address the issue, lest HP becomes a consumption hub too, which it is heading towards,” he said.