Nandyal : District Collector G Rajakumari has directed the officials to take stringent measures to eliminate narcotics from the district. A district-level committee meeting on narcotics was held at Nandyal Collectorate on Wednesday, which was attended by Additional SP Mand Javali Alphonsa, DRO Ramu Naik, and other officials.

During the meeting, the Collector emphasised the importance of creating widespread awareness about the harmful effects of narcotics to prevent youth from falling prey to drugs. She called for coordinated efforts to curb narcotic trafficking and directed officials to take proactive steps to address the issue.

Rajakumari instructed the Superintendent of GGH and medical officers to establish de-addiction centers within government hospitals across the district. She also stressed the need for awareness campaigns on the adverse effects of narcotics for students in the district’s 1,957 schools, 49 colleges, and 196 government and private educational institutions. The college staff was instructed to focus on controlling narcotics use in their institutions.

With 800 medical stores in the district, the Collector directed Drug Controller to take action to prevent sale of sleeping pills without prescriptions. She also expressed concern about the possibility of cannabis being cultivated in mulberry, cotton, and chili crops and ordered agriculture and horticulture officers to address this issue.

Regarding the upcoming Shivaratri festival, Rajakumar instructed Endowments Department officials to ensure that ascetics and swamis at Shiva temples do not use narcotics. With 24 tourist centers in the district, she highlighted the need to prevent transportation of narcotics by tourists coming from other States.

Given the district’s vast 9.63 lakh hectares of land, including 3.60 lakh hectares of forested land, and its proximity to the borders of Nagar Kurnool, Gadwal, Prakasam, Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur districts, the Collector stressed the need for enhanced surveillance to prevent narcotic trafficking through these areas. The district also has eight national highways, which increase the influx of visitors, necessitating special measures to stop the narcotics supply via these routes. The Collector instructed welfare officers from the SC, BC, Minority, and Tribal Welfare Departments to ensure surveillance in their respective welfare hostels.

The Collector assured that strong actions to control narcotics would be implemented with the cooperation of all departments in the district. SEB Superintendent Ravi Kumar, RDOs Vishwanath, Nagajyothi from Atmakur, Nandyal, and the officials of other departments participated.