CBN destroys 2,070 hectares of cannabis in Kullu under Operation Parivartan
Over one month ending 14 October 2026 the Central Bureau of Narcotics cleared 5,165 acres (about 2,070 hectares) of illicit cannabis in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district under Operation Parivartan, using ground surveys and drones with forest and police support up to roughly 3,500 metres altitude. Officers later held a public dialogue in Malana on alternative crops.
India’s Press Information Bureau said that over one month in Kullu district,
Himachal Pradesh, Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) officers destroyed 5,165
acres (about 2,070 hectares) of illicit cannabis under Operation Parivartan.[1][2]
The bureau reported that ground surveys and drone imagery located the plots and
that forest and police departments supported the clearing.[1][2]Teams worked
in steep Himalayan country up to roughly 3,500 metres altitude, trekking daily to
remote patches.[1][2]
At the end of the drive CBN staff held a Jan Samvad public meeting with Malana
villagers on alternative crops, which the agency cited as part of its mandate
under India’s 2012 narcotic drugs policy.[1][2]
The Free Press Journal relayed the same figures on 14 October 2026.[2]
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Area
2,070 ha
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis
Setting
Forest or wild land
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Press Information Bureaupib.gov.inCentral Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) strengthens Nasha Mukt Bharat vision by dismantling vast illicit cannabis cultivation in Himachal Pradesh
Free Press Journalfreepressjournal.inOperation Parivartan: Central Bureau Of Narcotics Destroys 5,165 Acres Of Illicit Cannabis Cultivation In Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu District
Open questions the AI reported
The release gives only acre and hectare totals, with no plant count or weight of destroyed cannabis.
Neither source lists individual villages cleared beyond the Malana dialogue held after the month-long drive.
No arrests or prosecutions were reported in these accounts.
Kullu district police separately reported about 1,300 hectares destroyed in a concurrent multi-agency drive; the PIB text does not say how much overlap there is between the two campaigns.
The map uses Malana as a reference point named in the release; eradication spread across remote Kullu terrain.
Police in Udaipur district uprooted and seized 779.79 kg of green ganja plants grown illegally in the hills at Khara Kupiya, Mandwa. Three NDPS cases were registered at Mandwa police station against three residents and investigation began.
Police destroyed 467 cannabis plants growing in a villager's house compound at Binayipur in Nabarangpur district, Odisha, and arrested him. The Nabarangpur police registered a case under the NDPS Act, and a sub-divisional police officer gave the account of the raid to reporters.
Sepahijala superintendent of police Bijoy Debbarma said joint police, Tripura State Rifles and BSF teams destroyed at least 1.5 crore ganja plants in Sonamura subdivision over the past year, causing an estimated Rs 1,000 crore loss to the illegal trade. He said the crackdown lay behind a 2 November attack on a BSF team at Ashabari, after which police have arrested 21 people.
Koraput district police and excise teams destroyed 30,000 cannabis plants in joint raids, 12,000 of them at Atal Guda in the Boipariguda block and 18,000 in the Nandapur block, the district superintendent of police said. Koraput police said the Nandapur destruction covered about nine acres of hilly land near Kasandi and Dabuguda.
