Govt crackdown on poppy fields helped fight drug menace: Biren

Imphal: CM N Biren Singh on Wednesday said though Manipur was among the states worst affected by drug abuse with a high rate of HIV infected people in the nineties, his govt’s ongoing war on drugs has been able to tackle the menace to some extent.
Speaking at a programme held at the western gate of his bungalow-cum-office here to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Biren appealed to the people to stand in unison against drug abuse and make Manipur a drug-free state.
Under the WoD campaign launched in 2018 “to save the youths” and the “Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan” under the initiative of PM Narendra Modi, many illegal drugs manufacturing units operating in the state have been busted and several people associated with drugs trafficking have been arrested, Biren said.
Highlighting the destruction of illegal poppy farms carried out on a large scale across the state, the CM said the area of poppy cultivation has declined by around 50% to 60%.