Forest department destroys ganja plants in Anaimalai

“Over 1000 ganja plants, which had grown over two feet, were uprooted and burnt with petrol. Also, there were small saplings grown in a vast area. The staff took pains to remove them one by one,” elaborated a forest department official.

Forest department staff suspect the role of tribals in the cultivation. On seeing the forest department staff, the offenders fled the spot and therefore no arrests were made. Forest staff also believe that some retired forest department staff may be hand in glove with the offenders.

Officials said that the tribals are often in the habit of cultivating ganja in Manjampatty area, as it is located deep inside the forests near the Kerala border. “We destroyed similar cultivations several years ago. Then the tribals stopped cultivating ganja for some time, but are into it again,” said an official. The entire operation to detect and destroy the ganja plants took almost a day for the officials.