CBN Destroys 5,165 Acres of Cannabis in Operation Parivartan

Officers of the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) have wiped out 5,165 acres, or 2,070 hectares, of illicit cannabis cultivation in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The drive, named Operation Parivartan, ran over one month and was described on 14 October 2026 as one of the agency's major destruction exercises. It is tied to the Nasha Mukt Bharat goal of a drug-free country.

How the fields were found

The illicit plots were identified by combining ground surveys with drone technology, which let officers map cultivation hidden across difficult slopes. The destruction itself was carried out with help from the Forest Department and the Police Department.

Working at height

The Himalayan terrain made the job hard. CBN teams cleared illicit cultivation up to a height of about 3,500 metres, going wherever the plant was found growing. Officers trekked to remote spots every day so that the destruction could be finished faster.

Talking to the villagers

At the close of the drive, CBN officers held a public dialogue, a Jan Samvad, with the villagers of Malana village. The conversation was about alternative development, including the growing of alternative crops, which the bureau is required to promote under the NDPS Policy 2012.

What CBN is

• The Central Bureau of Narcotics is the apex drug law enforcement and regulatory agency of the country.
• It works under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.
• Its charge is to find and destroy illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium.
• By cutting the crop at the point where it is grown, the agency removes a key link in the narcotics supply chain.

What follows

The bureau has said it will keep running such destruction drives against illicit cultivation in other parts of the country, repeating its commitment to fight the illegal narcotics trade and to build a drug-free and safer setting for the years ahead.