SRINAGAR: Deputy Commissioner(DC) Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad on Tuesday chaired the 8th meeting of the District Level Committee of Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) here at the Conference Hall of the DC Office Complex to take a review of the action taken by the concerned departments with regard to decisions held in last meeting.
The future course of action to uproot the drug menace and narcotic trade from Srinagar District was also formulated during the meeting.
While Zonal Director Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB), Rajesh Kumar participated in the meeting through virtual mode and threw light on various dimensions related to drug abuse and its peddling.
At the outset, the Deputy Commissioner took detailed feedback from every concerned Department regarding, and measures are undertaken for combating the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and their consumption in the District to save youth from the dangerous effects of the drugs.
At the outset, the Deputy Commissioner said that drug abuse is a serious problem that not only affects individuals, but also families and communities. He stated that it is essential to tackle the issue from multiple perspectives, including deterrence, treatment, and enforcement.
The DC also reiterated that the District Administration Srinagar is committed to creating a drug-free environment in the District and will continue to take all necessary steps to achieve this goal.
On the occasion, the DC stressed upon the Officers of all the line Departments including Enforcement agencies to ensure better coordination in imposing greater deterrence to combat the dangerous trade of drug trafficking. He said that efforts with Cooperation, Coordination, and Collaboration are vital to contain drug peddling and break the supply chain, besides taking stringent action against the culprits involved in the hazardous trade of drugs.
The DC said Deterrence initiatives have also been initiated including Educational campaigns at School and college levels to sensitize students and common masses about the ill effects of drugs as well as encouraging healthy activities and hobbies to discourage drug abuse.
The DC asked the Chief Education Officer, Srinagar to conduct anti drug seminars, rallies, and other programmes on the harmful effects of the drug menace in Educational Institutions of the District so that youth is discouraged from tempting by drugs.
The DC also emphasised on the effective functioning of Addiction Treatment facility Centres to fight against drug addiction and mitigate the sufferings of the drugs affected persons. He also laid trust on ensuring proper counseling and rehabilitation for individuals struggling with addiction.
With regard to enforcement efforts, the DC said District Administration Srinagar has taken a comprehensive multi-pronged approach and it has been made possible to make a significant decline in drug peddling in the. He said that cracking down on drug trafficking and its peddlers would be further intensified to punish those involved in this societal heinous crime.
With regard to the non-availability of the prescribed essential medicine for the treatment of drug victims, the DC stressed on ensuring the availability of medicines to drug-affected patients at authorized medical stores on proper prescription duly signed and sealed by the concerned Doctor. He also instructed that the medical stores must maintain the proper register/database of sold medicine and the Drug Control Department would audit the prescriptions at medical stores.
The DC also instructed the Drug Control Department to cancel the registration of such chemists who violate laid down guidelines under the Drugs & Cosmetic Act.
The DC said the drug menace is a major threat to the socio-economic structure and it has become imperative for the entire society to come together to uproot this menace and work as a strong entity to make Srinagar a healthy, and drugs free District. He further underscored that Srinagar Administration has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against drug suppliers and traffickers under the MISSION WAAPSI initiative.
The DC also sought cooperation from the families particularly from parents to overcome the menace among the youth which also leads to other social evils and crimes.
Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner was apprised by the Incharge Drug De-addiction Centre SMHS Hospital, Dr Yasir Rather that a significant decrease has been witnessed in the number of new patients of drug abuse related during the last 3-4 months after the launch of the MISSION WAPSI initiative by Srinagar administration, because of decrease in easy availability of the illicit drug, after administration adopted a zero-tolerance policy against drug suppliers and traffickers.
He informed that over 44000 footfall of patients have visited SMHS hospital to get treatment during the year 2022. And all of these patients were given free treatment there.
“In the last month of Feb 2023 around 3000 (new plus followup patients) were given free treatment at the deaddiction center, SMHS,” he added.
Similarly, the Deputy Nodal Officer ATF, SKIMS Bemina, informed that about 1500 affected patients have been given treatment at the center till date with a follow-up facility for 147 patients.
During the meeting, SP West, Arif Amin Shah apprised the chair about the overall scenario of drug abuse in Srinagar and measures taken to curb the menace. He informed the meeting that 20 cases have been registered so far in the district and 50 peddlers have been detained under Narco PSA. In addition, 13.42 grams of brown sugar, 684.33 grams of heroin, and 3.36 Kg of charas, besides 4734 psychotropic tablets and 38 bottles were recovered from the peddlers.
The Zonal Director Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), participated in the meeting through virtual mode and threw light on various dimensions related to drug abuse and its peddling network and ways to break the chain.
