SRINAGAR: A meeting of District Level Committee of Narco Coordination Centre(NCORD) was today held under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner(DC) Srinagar, Mohammad AijazAsad here at Meeting Hall of DC Office Complex to review action taken by Law Enforcement Agencies and other Stakeholders to counter the menace of drug abuse in Srinagar District crush Hotspots of drug peddling/Peddlers.
The DC also reviewed the implementation of the measures taken and progress achieved to eliminate drug abuse and its peddling from the Srinagar District, particularly during the last two months.
The meeting among others was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Syed Shabir Ahmad, Superintendent of Police, Arif Amin Shah, Chief Education Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, Chief Agricultural Officer DDMO Srinagar, besides Nodal Officer Colleges, a representative from Private Schools Association, Incharge Drug De-addiction Centre SMHS Hospital, Incharge ATF, SKIMS Bemina and from ANTF, Excise Department, other concerned.
At the outset, the Deputy Commissioner took a detailed appraisal from concerned members of the NCORD Committee regarding the present scenario of drug-related occurrences, areas of concern, age group of addicts, and hot spots of drug abuse, besides anti-drugs awareness campaigns and drug deterrence measures in place in Srinagar District.
The DC took feedback from the members of the Committee including SP Headquarters, Incharge Drug De-addiction Centre SMHS Hospital and Incharge ATF, SKIMS Bemina who presented the latest report related to action taken against drug addiction and drug trafficking in the last 2 months in the District.
The DC was also given appraisal about the operationalization of Skill Development cum Rehabilitation Centre for victims of Drug Abuse Kathi Darwaza and Addiction Treatment Facility Centre.
On the occasion, the DC stressed upon the Officers of all the line Departments to further intensify IEC activities and asked the Chief Education Officer and Nodal Officer Colleges to conduct seminars, rallies and other programmes on the harmful effects of drug menace in all Government and Private Educational Institutions of the District so that youth is discouraged from tempting towards drugs. The DC said the menace of Drugs is non-negotiable and stressed on adopting zero-tolerance against drug abuse,
The DC also emphasised the Officers including Enforcement agencies for making concerted efforts to crack hotspots of drug abuse, and obstruct drug peddling, besides creating greater deterrence to combat the dangerous trade of drug trafficking. He also called the members of the NCORD Committee to keep vigil in public parks, restaurants and other vulnerable places to prevent the spread of drugs.
The DC also called for attacking the societal issue of drug menace from both supply and demand sides to contain the drug peddling and break the supply chain. He also called for stringent action against the culprits involved in the hazardous trade of drugs.
During the meeting, the DC asked the RTO, Kashmir and Health Departments in Srinagar to constitute a special Joint team to conduct random testing/screening of vulnerable groups including drivers of commercial vehicles.
On the occasion, SP Headquarter, Arif Amin Shah apprised the meeting that as many as 158 drug peddlers have been booked under PITs-PSA/PSA and over 150 Narco smugglers were arrested during the current year in Srinagar District. While
Huge quantity contraband substances were also seized/recovered including 108.52 gms of Brown sugar, 8.693 Kgs of Heroin, 8.7 Kgs of Charas, 9.5 Kgs of Fuki, 1356 PSY syrup bottles, 41210 PSY capsules/tablets, besides illicit cultivation of 5066 Kgs Ganja, 2 quintals of bang/poppy straw/cannabis were destroyed, in addition, to the cash recovery of Rs 26 lakh from the drug peddlers.
Similarly, the DC was informed that the Excise Department has destroyed wild bang spread over 348 kanals of land in Srinagar District, besides illicit poppy cultivation over 12.3 kanals of land during the current year. In addition, several awareness programmes regarding Narcotic Crops/Drug Abuse were also conducted.
Likewise, the DC was also briefed about the action taken and deterrence measures taken by the Anti-Narcotic Task Force(ANTF) to curb drug peddling in Srinagar District.
During the meeting, it was informed that the sale operation of 08 chemist shops operating in different parts of the City has been suspended for violating the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.
