The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will soon begin operations from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). News18 has learnt that the agency has written to the state government asking for space and other facilities to set up its first office in the Valley.
This will be the second unit of the NCB in the state of J&K. NCB, the nodal agency on the matter of drug law enforcement in India, had started functioning from Jammu in 2020.
Senior officers told News18 that the decision to set up the unit has been taken in the wake of rising cases of narcotics in the state and to increase their manpower in the state.
Deputy Director General (operations) Sanjay Kumar Singh confirmed that the government of Jammu and Kashmir has been approached and that the agency is likely to start operations from Srinagar soon.
“If all goes well and on time, the operations are likely to begin in a few weeks. We plan to increase our presence in the region given the increase in number of cases and seizures made in the state,” another officer said.
Last year, News18 had exclusively reported how Kashmir has witnessed a 2,000% rise in cases of drug abuse. While in 2016, the Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) Centre at the Government Medical College in Srinagar reported only 489 cases, the number grew seven times in 2017 to 3,000.
In 2019, the number climbed to 7,000 and crossed the 10,000-mark in 2021 with an overall 2,000% spike in just five years.
In July 2022, for the first time, a survey was conducted on drug abuse across all 10 districts of Kashmir.
The survey was conducted by the Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (IMHNS), Government Medical College, Srinagar, in collaboration with the social welfare department and Directorate of Health.
The report of the survey, exclusively accessed by News18, stated that at least 2.8% of the total population of Kashmir are substance users, with 52,404 dependents on drugs.
The report said of the drug dependents, nearly 95% are heroin users. The survey had also found the average age of initiation of heroin in Kashmir to be 22.
In March this year, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar had also chaired a meeting of District Level Committee of Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) to review the action taken and formulate future course of action to uproot the drug menace and narcotic trade from Srinagar.
The home ministry has constituted a four-tier coordination mechanism for nationwide stakeholders from grass-root to top level, and effectively combating the menace of drugs.
The Apex NCORD, Executive NCORD, State NCORD and District NCORD are four pillars of mechanism. In addition to this four-tier structure, monthly NCORD meetings are chaired by the Director General, NCB with an aim to bring all agencies on supply, demand and harm reduction side under one umbrella.
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