Anamalai tiger reserve: Ganja cultivation found, destroyed

Chennai: In a wake-up call to the law enforcement departments of the country, especially narcotics control wing, state forest officials had found and destroyed cannabis cultivation in the ‘inaccessible’ parts of the Anaimalai tiger reserve, which is classified as a protected area by the government.

According to a top wildlife officer, a tip-off had come from a national level agency regarding the cannabis cultivation in Udumalaipet range of Anamalai tiger reserve. On the basis of the tip, Tirupur district forest officials searched the tiger reserve for two days before finding ganja cultivation and a nursery on Saturday, the top official said.

“A special team including more than 100 forest officials of different ranks combed the forest area inch by inch for two days. Finally, we found the ganja cultivation consisting of more than 1,000 plants and a nursery in an inaccessible part of the tiger reserve. We destroyed all the plants and the nursery”, Muhammed Shabab, Tirupur district forest officer who headed the operation, said.

An official who took part in the operation said the cultivation was unearthed near Melcuru Malai, which would take five hours through road and further 10 hours by foot. “The exact worth of cannabis could not be guessed at as the seedlings were of different ages. A case has been filed and we are conducting investigations”, Muhammed Shabab added.

In a similar discovery, forest officials had uncovered ganja cultivation inside the tiger reserve in 2012. “The Anamalai tiger reserve has become very vulnerable to these kinds of activities. It is time the government strengthens our system and fill vacancies. We need to take solid action as the ganja network has grown into an international network”, a senior forest official said.