GUWAHATI: As part of the “war on drugs,” Manipur destroyed poppy plantations in areas measuring over 19,135 acres between 2017 and 2024, a report prepared by the Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre said.At 4,454.4 acres, maximum destruction took place in Kangpokpi, a hill district. It is followed by Ukhrul (3,348 acres), Churachandpur (2,713.8 acres), Tengnoupal (2575 acres), Chandel (1,982.5 acres) and Kamjong (1118.5 acres) districts.According to the report, an analysis of 2023-2024 had confirmed the existence of poppy cultivation in Chandel, Churachandpur, Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Noney, Senapati, Tamenglong, Tengnoupal and Ukhrul, all of them hill districts.“Opium poppy cultivation in Manipur decreased from 16,632.29 acres in 2022-2023 to 11,288.07 acres in 2023-2024. Overall in 2023-2024, opium poppy cultivation in the state decreased by 32.13% compared to 2022-2023. This relates to the official reports from government indicating that a total of 19,135.50 acres of poppy plantations were destroyed from 2017 to 2024,” the report said.The annual monitoring of opium cultivation is conducted by agencies using GIS and remote sensing technologies.“In most areas of Manipur, the best season to plant and harvest opium poppy is from September to February. We usually acquire the LISS-IV-satellite imageries from National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Dept. of Space, Govt. of India for 1st week of Sept, 2nd week of October, first week of December and 2nd week of February of the respective years,” the report said.“However, 60% of cloud is on satellite imagery. Due to unavailable cloud free satellite data for some certain seasons, we used Multi-Spectral Instrument Sentinel-2A and Landsat7 imageries,” the report added.Ground data from Narcotics and Affairs of Border and Forest Department, along with high resolution imagery, is used for more accuracy, quality assurance and check.“The results of the study focus on actual area mapping or estimation of acreage of the poppy growing area. As such, identifying the location of poppy parcels or fields and mapping their spatial distribution are of great practical significance for government in making and implementing eradication plans, crackdown on poppy cultivation and narcotic trade,” the report further said.Manipur had announced the “war on drugs” in 2018, a year after N Biren Singh donned the chief minister’s mantle for the first time. Poppy plantations by the alleged Myanmar immigrants is one of the reasons behind the ethnic conflict.
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