BHUBANESWAR: The state government has directed revenue officials in six hotspot districts to maintain close coordination with Odisha Police and intensify field-level vigilance to prevent cannabis cultivation on government and revenue land.
The directive came after illicit cannabis cultivation on more than 6,600 acres of government and revenue land was detected during raids last year.
Additional chief secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management department Arabinda Padhee, in a recent directive to the collectors of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh and Gajapati, said cannabis cultivation was detected and destroyed on around 6,632.19 acres of government and revenue land during 2025-26. The raids covered a total of 36,508.792 acres across 1,631 GPS-mapped patches in the six districts.
Padhee asked the district collectors to alert tehsildars, additional tehsildars, revenue supervisors and revenue inspectors to maintain continuous surveillance over government and revenue land parcels where illegal cannabis cultivation was detected and destroyed during the previous season.
The revenue officials have also been directed to obtain village-wise and plot-wise details, including GPS coordinates, from the police authorities to facilitate systematic monitoring and prevent fresh cultivation during the 2026-27 crop season.
Padhee said cultivators involved in the illegal activity often return to government land patches, particularly in remote and inaccessible areas where surveillance is inadequate. He directed field functionaries in the identified districts to immediately report any fresh cultivation to the jurisdictional police station or the STF/anti-narcotic task force, as required under section 47 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The district administrations have also been directed to establish internal reporting mechanisms for prompt sharing of information with law-enforcement agencies and to closely monitor compliance with the directions. The government further warned that revenue officials found conniving with vested interests or cannabis mafia elements will face stringent disciplinary and criminal action.