Over the years, many government agencies, both Central and state, have expressed concern over unchecked drug trade in Himachal Pradesh, but  no concrete action plan has been put in place to curb the menace.

Though there have been tall claims by successive governments and law enforcement agencies on checking and destroying cannabis plantation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has clearly established that drug trade is growing every year.

As per an NCB report, charas seizures increased from 2012 to 2015. In  2012, 282.370 kg charas was recovered from Himachal Pradesh, whereas in 2013, it increased to 314.962 kg. The recoveries increased to 356.963 kg charas in 2014 but in 2015, only 283.446 kg charas was recovered.

Opium seizures in the state, though, remained below 10 kg during the same period. Recently, the High Court also expressed concern over the state of affairs and called for curbing the cultivation of cannabis in Kullu district, particularly in places such as Malana and Kasol, which are considered to be safe havens for drug peddlers.

(Malana is known for producing high quality cannabis and processed drugs and it attracts a lot of foreigners every year for this reason).

“It is clear from the report of NCB that Himachal still has organised cultivation of cannabis in the higher reaches in Kullu district, especially in Sainj valley.  Though, there is wild growth of cannabis in Chamba, Kangra, upper Shimla and areas adjoining Uttarakhand, the situation in the Kullu-Manali valley is alarming, wherein there has been huge recovery of contraband from local people as well as foreign nationals. It is clearly evident from the reports that area of Manikaran has influx of foreign nationals, who usually visit Kullu Valley in connection with illegal trade of psychotropic substances,” a division bench of acting Chief Justice, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Sharma observed.

The court noted that in the absence of material placed on record, “we are compelled to draw inference that destruction campaigns, as initiated by Government of India as well as state of Himachal Pradesh, are merely on paper and nothing has been done on ground level.

“Though, there is an attempt on the part of Director, NCB, to persuade this court to agree that illegal trade of drugs/psychotropic substances is contained, but definitely there is no satisfactory answer made available on record to demonstrate that efforts has shown some results,” the bench said.

The state government had started a campaign to eradicate cannabis cultivation and had claimed to have destroyed it across the state since 2012.

After the court’s directive, the Director General of Police, Somesh Goyal announced that a comprehensive policy for eradication of cannabis would be framed and there would be enforcement of laws, awareness and rehabilitation of locals who are associated with it. This fails to impress, especially as the police has still not been able to do its main duty of enforcement in the area.

Former NCB officer OP Sharma said the hill state has sprawling illegal fields of cannabis and opium on private and government land, mainly in the upper reaches of Kullu and Mandi. For locals, it is a source of easy money and it also attracts lots of foreign tourists which makes it a socio-economic problem.

As per estimates, over 2,500 villages dotted across inaccessible valleys and lofty mountains in Kullu, Chamba, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur districts are known for growing cannabis and poppy cultivation.

“To cure the state of drug menace, it needs convergence of government agencies and society,” Sharma said, adding there is also the need for providing alternative source of income of the locals of these areas so as to discourage them from cannabis cultivation.

Alternative farming seems to be the only way of controlling poppy and cannabis cultivation in Himachal, he said.

Sources say that over 60 per cent of the poppy and cannabis produce in Himachal Pradesh is smuggled out to countries like Israel, Italy, Holland and some other European countries. The remaining finds its way to Nepal or Indian states like Goa, Punjab and Delhi.

In the last few years, over 70 foreigners, mainly Britons, Israelis, Dutch, Germans, Japanese and Italians, have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Almost all these arrests have been made from Kullu district.