Jammu, June 26: The Jammu administration will be constituting ‘mohalla’ committees in residential localities and organising awareness campaigns in educational institutions to curb the rising menace of drug addiction among the youth, an official said on Wednesday.
The decision came at a joint meeting of officials, civil society and NGOs held here on Tuesday evening and chaired by deputy commissioner of Jammu, Ramesh Kumar.
According to Jammu Police, over 450 drug peddlers were arrested and 341 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act till June 24, 2019 in Jammu region, compared to 302 peddlers nabbed and 231 cases filed during the same period last year.
Around 57 kg heroin, 5,035 kg poppy straw, 111 kg charas (cannabis) were seized during the same period, against 31 kg heroin, 31 kg charas and 1672 kg poppy straw in the first half of the last year, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, M K Sinha had said.
“In the meeting, the burning issue of drug menace in Jammu district and the measures to curb this threat were discussed,” the spokesperson said.
After the discussions, Kumar passed instructions to the departments concerned to constitute committees in every locality to keep a vigil and counter the menace of drug abuse, he said.
Terming the meeting as a “major step” towards making Jammu drug abuse free, Kumar sought suggestions and ideas from the participants to deal with this “growing danger,” the spokesperson said.
