SURKHET, March 8: Ram Bahadur Gaha of Satakhani VDC-7 in Surkhet district had started opium farming three years ago. Since this year, he has extended the opium farming to five kathas of land from one katha.
It isn’t that Gaha is unaware that opium farming is against the law. But, he is attracted toward this illegal occupation for making fast bucks.
Although Gaha is on foreign employment in the Gulf country, his wife is now involved in the opium farming.
Bishnu Pangali, another local farmer of Satakhani VDC, also started opium farming last year. He received Rs 50,000 before the harvest. Overjoyed by receiving the payment in advance, he has extended the farming to seven kathas.
Gaha and Pangeli are not alone in this profession in Satakhani VDC. There are over 60 households involved in opium farming.
A village’s journey from opium to vegetable and livestock farmi...
Police presume that Indian drug traders are reportedly involved in encouraging local farmers in the villages through local agents. Locals also admit the assumption made by the police.
Rs 50,000 for opium farming per katha is paid to farmers in advance, a local woman, on condition of anonymity, informed. “The investor also provides seeds free of cost,” she said.
Following the harvest, local agents reach to the villages to collect the products from farmers, according to her.
She also added that villagers are attracted to opium farming due to payment in advance. As majority of locals in such villages are involved in the farming, none of them raise voice against the illegal job.
When police, acting upon information received from some locals, reached Satakhani VDC, they were surprised to see the scale of opium farming. Most of the villagers are involved in opium farming in their farms ranging from two kathas to five kathas, police Inspector Ishwari Dutta Pandey informed.
“We’ve destroyed five bighas of opium farms from one ward of the VDC alone,” he said.
The locals are not just involved in farming at their backyards but have also extended the farming from streets to river areas, according to Inspector Pandey.
He said that police came to learn about the farming quite late. By the time the police reached the village, the poppy had already been extracted.
According to the police, the locals have informed them that Indian drug dealers have been investing in the opium farming in Nepal through local agents. The police have taken this issue seriously after finding the opium farming in such a great scale, DSP Birendra Shrestha at the District Police Office (DPO), Surkhet said.
The locals had already fled from the village before the police reached there. No one has been arrested so far, according to DSP Shrestha.
“We’re trying to collect the information from villagers. We’ll take action against local farmers, investors and those who encouraged the farming,” he said.
Police have been mobilized since Tuesday to destroy the illegal farming in suspected areas.
