Govt Taps AI And Satellite Imaging To Tackle Illicit Drug Cultivation

The Union Government has said that artificial intelligence, drones, and satellite imaging are being used to detect and destroy illegal cultivation of narcotics such as opium, poppy and cannabis.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Home Ministry noted that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) works with research bodies like ADRIN and BISAG-N.

These agencies supply satellite images to identify suspicious crop areas. The NCB then shares geo-spatial data with states for ground-level action.

The Central Bureau of Narcotics uses drones to track and clear illegal crops. In the past three years, poppy fields in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and cannabis farms in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, have been destroyed.

The government clarified that enforcement data from these technologies has not yet been linked to the NIDAAN portal, which tracks narcotics cases. The NCB’s role, it added, is limited to providing satellite images and geo-spatial inputs.