GHALLANAI (Mohmand Agency), March 21: Growers have voluntarily destroyed standing poppy crop over 2,000 kanals in far-flung parts of the agency, officials said on Saturday.

Political Agent Sahibzada Mohammad Anees had directed authorities in all the three subdivisions to take the tribal people into confidence and conduct an anti-poppy campaign in the agency.

The officials said the authorities with the cooperation of the tribesmen and growers had destroyed the banned crop cultivated over a vast area in the mountainous parts of the agency. So far, the standing poppy crop over about 2,000 kanals had been destroyed, official sources said.

Sahibzada Anees told Dawn that the administration had informed the tribesmen and the growers in advance about the anti-poppy drive.

They had also been warned against growing the crop this year, but they did not pay any heed, and now the administration had initiated action to destroy it with the cooperation of tribal elders and growers, he added.

The growth rate of poppy in the Mohmand Agency would be brought to zero by the end of this month, he said, adding that the administration faced no resistance in any parts of the agency where the banned crop had been cultivated.

The DAWN