Odisha to use satellite and drone technology to locate and destroy illegal hemp cultivation
Bhubaneswar : Odisha government today decided to apply the satellite and drone technology to locate the areas of illegal hemp cultivation and destroy those before harvesting.
Reviewing the illegal hemp cultivation at a meeting here, the Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said ‘’Continuous destruction of the crop before harvesting”, would itself be a strong deterrent.
Mr Mohapatra directed officials to identify the land record of the private persons in whose land hemp is cultivated and proceed against them as per provisions of NDPS Act.
Spot “the areas and villages in which illegal hemp cultivation is done through collection of local intelligence”, he directed the officials.
The Chief Secretary also directed the Collectors to prepare district level action plan for prevention of this illegal means of earning “through targeted alternative livelihood interventions”.
The Collectors were asked to “identify the tribal poor families who are living on this trade and provide them alternative livelihood opportunities through convergence of Odisha Livelihood Mission, National Livelihood Mission, MGNREGS, high return cash crop, agri-business, agro-product aggregation, small food processing units, goatery, poultry, integrated farming and similar other schemes”.
Mr Mohapatra directed to intensify enforcement activities through joint action involving the police, excise and revenue department officials.
Official sources said hemp cultivation in 22217 acres was destroyed during 2020-21.
Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena advised to intensify awareness and IEC activities in the identified villages with involvement of village community, PRI representatives, NGOs, SHGs, farmers’ clubs and educated youth.
Mr Jena also asked to from village, GP and block level committees for creation of awareness, collection of information and promotion of alternative livelihood activities to dissuade people from cultivating hemp.
