Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday alleged that the BJP government has made Gujarat a hub for drug traffickers from Pakistan. He asked what Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing to deal with the rise of drug smuggling in the state.
“Who is the PM protecting in the rampant drug smuggling trade into Gujarat? Who is responsible for the lakhs of families affected by inaccurate land records? Why is Gujarat still suffering from water shortage after all these years of BJP rule?” Ramesh said in a post on X.
“Just a few days ago, the Indian Coast Guard, Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized a Pakistani boat carrying 86 kg of heroin (worth Rs 600 crore) off the coast of Gujarat. Two days prior, mephedrone valued at Rs 230 crore was seized from two labs located in Gandhinagar, one in Amreli, and three in Rajasthan’s Sirohi,” said Ramesh.
Several incidents
In March, Pakistani nationals carrying narcotics worth Rs 480 crore were apprehended off the Porbandar coast and in February, the Indian Navy and NCB had seized 3,300 kg of drugs near Porbandar in the largest drug bust in recent history. In some cases, weapons and ammunition were seized along with the narcotics. he said.
“While these smuggling attempts were detected, dozens if not hundreds of others have made their way to Indian soil. The PM’s narrative of reducing terrorism and drug trafficking during his tenure stands exposed by these worrying developments,” the Congress leader said.
“What is the PM doing to confront the rise of drug smuggling through Gujarat? Have the larger and wider links of the drug smugglers, that enable them to carry on their trade so brazenly – especially through ports – ever been probed?” he asked.
Land records
Ramesh claimed lakhs of families have been thrown into turmoil by the BJP’s botched effort to digitise land records in Gujarat. By December 2021, the state government had received more than five lakh complaints from families demanding a verification of the resurvey of their land, he said.
“The private agencies hired to conduct the resurvey had frequently cut corners, resulting in the creation of lakhs of erroneous records. These inaccurate records can have wide-ranging impacts, from delaying property transactions, to hampering farmers’ access to credit, to creating heated disputes within families and among neighbours,” he said.
As the PM visits Gujarat, he must address the state’s deepening water crises, Ramesh said. “In the 207 water reservoirs in Gujarat, the water level is an alarming 62.38%, with only 10 reservoirs in the state having a water level of more than 80%…Some reservoirs in the state had already dried up before the onset of summer. The water levels of Gadhki and Sani in Devbhumi Dwarka, Advana and Amipara in Porbandar, and Prempara in Junagadh have reached ZERO,” he said.
In addition to drinking water shortages for Gujarat’s people, the crisis is also affecting farmers, who were promised irrigation water from the Narmada but have failed to reap benefits due to years of corruption and mismanagement, Ramesh alleged.
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