The government agencies in Tirap district recently conducted a joint operation, during which they destroyed illegal poppy cultivation spread over more than 11,000 square metres in a village area. Earlier, in January this year, security forces carried out a similar drive near the India-Myanmar border in Longding district, where poppy plantations covering eight acres of land were destroyed. These drives show the government’s resolve against illegal poppy cultivation in the state, but the question is: is destruction of poppy fields the only solution to the decades-old problem?
In some districts, poppy cultivation has long been regarded as part of traditional practice. It is deeply rooted in the socioeconomic and cultural life of the people, particularly in the eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh. However, cultivating poppy as a profit-making venture is neither acceptable nor appreciable. The central Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has already warned against commercial cultivation and stressed the urgent need for intervention to safeguard the health and survival of various tribes in the state’s inaccessible areas. Moreover, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), 1985 explicitly prohibits opium cultivation.
The government must think seriously about providing alternative livelihoods to the remote villagers. A two-pronged strategy is essential: strict enforcement of the law to deter illegal cultivation, and robust socioeconomic interventions to ensure that farmers are not left without viable options. Only when alternative livelihoods prove more rewarding than poppy cultivation will the government’s fight against illegal cultivation truly bear fruit.