Folk tradition used in the campaign against ganja use in Visakhapatnam

In the last one month, 70 lakh Ganja plants in the 11 mandals of Agency areas in Visakhapatnam were destroyed by the excise department personnel. The department took “burra katha” as a way to create awareness among the tribal people about the bad effects caused by weed.

As per a report in The Hindu, the excise director Venkateshwara Rao takes this initiative to educate the tribal people about The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act  (NDPS Act)  and its repercussions. The Excise Department is not only focusing on highlighting the sections in NDPS Act but also trying to give them alternative crop options and disseminating the various government schemes through cultural programmes.

The five prone villages identified are Munchinput, Pedabayalu, GK Veedhi, Chintapalli and G. Madugula.

Five teams of artists from East Godavari are taking part in this campaign. Each team, which comprises of four members, will visit two villages on daily basis. The target is to cover at least 10 villages per day and 300 villages in a month.

In case you didn’t know..

Burra Katha is a traditional way of storytelling in the villages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is an oral way of conveying a story and is a part of the ‘Katha’ tradition.