Poppy cultivation will soon come at a cost in Manipur. Leishangthem Susindro is Manipur’s consumer affairs, food & public distribution minister and recently stated that ration cards of people working on poppy plantations will be cancelled. He announced this on Saturday. Also, the Manipur government will send a letter to the central ministry stating the fact about invalidating the ration cards of these people.
Manipur Minister Is Upset Seeing The Poppy Plantations In The State
Minister Leishangthem Susindro held an aerial survey on Friday before announcing the news of cancelling ration cards. The aerial survey was conducted in some districts such as Chandel, Churachandpur’s Thangjing hill range, and Kangpokpi’s Saikul to see poppy cultivation. Leishangthem Susindro and some officials conducted the aerial survey in these places on a helicopter on Friday. Unfortunately, he is disheartened to see the plantations in these parts of Manipur. Though the Manipur government has asked to stop poppy cultivation before, the villagers are continuing to do so.
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What Will The Manipur Government Do To Put An End To This?
Post the survey, Leishangthem spoke to the media and reporters and shared that he is disappointed to see such a huge scale of cultivation in different places of Manipur. The government has plans to stop this as well. He shared how they will take steps to destroy the cultivated lands using chemicals and drones.
Deforestation is a concern of this cultivation. And also it leads to the water bodies like springs getting dried up. With both deforestation and water storage, this is growing to be a huge concern and extremely harmful to nature. While speaking to the media, Minister Leishangthem also requested the villagers to join the government in the “War against drugs campaigns”.
The minister shared how they will work against the poppy cultivations all around the state. Also, one of the major steps is invalidating the ration cards of the people involved with this plantation.
The Manipur government also held a test flight with drones on Saturday. These drones will be used in surveys and identifying plantations in the state. Another use of these drones will be to spray chemicals and destroy the poppy plantations.
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons