Even though thousands of hemps are burnt by the excise department every year during raids, illegal cannabis plantation continues to flourish in interior parts of Odisha.
The police and excise department found Ganja plantations in dense forest regions where left-wing extremists have strong presence.
In fact, security experts say naxalites generate money for their weapons from illegal plantations.
The Odisha Government has admitted that there are large tracts under cannabis cultivation in districts such as Angul, Boudh, Deogarh, Gajapati, Malkanagiri, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Sambalpur. These districts have dense forests in patches.
During the past four years, Ganja worth Rs. 2,500 crore had been gutted in raids carried out by by teams of police, excise, revenue and forest department officials.
If one goes by the worth of annual destruction of hemps in Odisha, nearly 10 million plants have been wiped out since last year.
By January 31 during the current fiscal, 6.6 million illegal plants have been destroyed in eight districts of the State.
It is likely to touch the 10 million-mark by the end of the fiscal year. In the last financial year (2013-14), 9.05 million plants were incinerated. In previous fiscals, the number of Ganja plants seized by the excise department varied between 2.16 million to 4.57 million.
As per an excise department official, the value of one Ganja plant in the market is estimated at Rs. 1,000.
