A ghetto in the grip of drug abuse

KOCHI: The residents of Vathuruthy are a worried lot. The presence of an active drug racket is an open secret here. Raids and arrests are a regular affair. But these operations only aggravate the problem, the residents say.“These raids are just an excuse for the police to sit idle. Whenever we give complaints about the drug racket, the police will storm into the area and harass innocent people leaving out the real culprits. Even when they arrest some people, they will leave them off in a few days. So people are now reluctant to speak up,” councillor N Venugopal said.Drug abuse has been nothing new to Vathuruthy. Almost a decade ago the residents had set up an action council against drug trafficking in the area. “That was 8 to 10 years ago. The action council was able to discourage the activities of the racket to an extent,” said a social worker on conditions of anonymity.But today the situation assumes serious dimensions with the presence of children in the drug racket.“The anti-social elements now target children, mainly of migrant labourers who stay here. The drug peddlers offer small jobs to the kids, mostly school drop-outs. The children will start using drugs and will soon become permanent customers as well as permanent workers,” said a construction worker from Vathuruthy.While most people blame the police for the  mess, the police too point out several strategic difficulties.One of the main problem is the presence of a large floating migrant population in the area.“Around 20 percent of the population here is floating. These people come from different areas, reach here and then move out after a few days. So it is difficult to keep a track of their activities. Besides, the area has many slums, very small houses and some people residing on terraces of houses and in make-shift shelters. So it is very difficult to determine what happens here,” SI C K Bijoy Chandran said.The absence of a proper road connecting the area is another issue that affects the people. Since the residential area of Vathuruthy lies beyond a railway line, it is inconvenient for the police to patrol the area in four-wheelers.  “We tried to build an approach road from the opposite side but that never materialised. As such it is difficult for the police to patrol the area. We do have beat police and police on motorbikes. We are also trying to nab the culprits by coordinating with the residents associations.We are also keeping a watch on the accused who are out on bail,” he said. But not everyone is satisfied.  “The police here are hand in glove with the racketeers. Only the SI and a few others are shifted on a rotation basis. While many are permanently posted here. They develop an association with the culprits. Even after the culprits have been named by the locals and the residents associations, the police fail to take action,” Venugopal said.