CHANDIGARH: In an effort to destroy a major source of charas in the country, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in a joint operation with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Himachal Pradesh Police and the State Forest Department, has launched a large-scale drive to destroy cannabis plants in remote high-altitude areas of Kullu district, known for illegal cannabis cultivation.
The operation, which began on Friday, also involves geo-tagging the plantations to keep track of any future cultivation. The joint teams are working in difficult mountainous terrain to identify and destroy illegally cultivated cannabis plants.
“ A joint operation by NCB along with ITBP and other agencies is being carried out for the identification and destruction of illegal cultivation of cannabis plants, The joint teams are operating in difficult mountainous terrain. The entire exercise is being geo-tagged and documented through photographs and videography to ensure transparency, and the Forest Department shall issue the destruction certificate on conclusion of the campaign. Legal action under the NDPS Act, 1985 shall be initiated against persons found responsible for the cultivation,’’ said Amanjit Singh, Additional Director of NCB Chandigarh Zone.
He said the operation was continuing and more areas were being mapped for destruction in the coming days. The NCB has also urged the public to share information on drug trafficking through the MANAS National Narcotics Helpline (toll-free 1933), assuring that the identity of informants would be kept confidential.
The operation is part of the vision document on Narcotics Control (2026–2029), released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the 10th Apex Level Meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) in New Delhi on June 26. The document lays down a roadmap towards Nasha Mukt Bharat and stresses stopping drugs at the production stage through coordinated eradication of illicit cultivation by central and state agencies.
Sources said the operation would continue for about a month.
Kullu is known for cannabis cultivation and charas production. Local residents reportedly grow cannabis in remote forest areas and villages, extract charas and sell it to drug networks, which transport it to other states. Malana, Manikaran, Kasol, Tosh, Nathan, Pulga, Fozal and Banjar are among the hotspots for cannabis cultivation.
Sources said the season for extracting charas from cannabis plants by rubbing the leaves between the palms and fingers had already started in Kullu. Fresh charas is being prepared and stored, they said. Most hybrid cannabis is grown on forest land, while some is cultivated on private land.
In August this year, the Himachal Pradesh Government transferred the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Kullu after the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered their transfer on June 24 for failing to prevent large-scale rave parties in the Parvati Valley's Kasol area.
The case relates to an event organised at Green Forest-I and Green Forest-II in Grahan near Kasol from June 7 to 11. Two FIRs were registered after the court's intervention. Empty liquor bottles, cigarette butts, rolling papers allegedly used for cannabis consumption and other material suggesting substance abuse were found at the spot. Two tourists were arrested with cocaine and LSD, while a Russian national, Caria Kuzminykh, who was performing as a DJ, died at the event.
According to the NCB's 2023 report, Himachal Pradesh, along with Odisha, is a state where cannabis trafficking takes place in “substantial quantities”, with the drugs being transported to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat and other metropolitan areas. The report also identified Kullu as a hotbed of illegal cannabis cultivation.
In 2019, teams of the state police, NCB, India Reserve Battalion, revenue and forest departments, mahila and yuvak mandals and Sahbhagita Aapki Aur Hamari destroyed cannabis plants across 6,175 bighas (1,235 acres) in Kullu district in a month-long operation. The campaign began on August 6 and continued till October 4.
