Visakhapatnam: The proposed Special Task Force (STF) formed to curtail ganja trade in Andhra Pradesh will focus on smuggling activities and ways to stop it by setting up armed check-posts at all exit points from Agency areas.
The STF intends to destroy ganja plantations by the roadside in Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. Sources in the prohibition and excise department said that it would take at least three years to root out ganja cultivation and stop its smuggling.
The illegal trade is pegged at Rs 15,000 crore per annum in AP. The hemp was cultivated in the Maoist bastions and spread over almost 20,000 acres in Agency regions.
Enforcement Director K. Venkateswara Rao said Visakhapatnam Agency, parts of East Godavari and Andhra-Odisha border (AOB) have emerged safe havens for cultivation and smuggling of hemp. "We will submit the blueprint of STF to the government on August 3,"he said.
A senior official with the department said that the taskforce's strength will be around 700- 800 personnel.
"Officials from excise, police, revenue and forest departments will be included in STF. They will try to tighten all exit points in Agency areas, conduct surprise raids and destroy weed crops and stored hemp while carrying out combing operations and intelligence gathering. The STF will work in tandem with the anti-Naxal forces," he said.
"The taskforce may come under criticism for harassing or harming ganja growers who are mostly tribals. In the recent past, illegal traders from Tamil Nadu have been pushing tribals to grow ganja in Andhra Pradesh. Instead of harming the tribals they should find and nab those behind this illegal trade," an activist, G Srinivas said.
