Crackdown or Udta Malegaon: Onus on the Malegaonians to choose one

(A glimpse of Kusumba Road (Image for representation))

Like any other city in India and the world, Malegaon too has the tradition of naming its roads and prominent chowks after eminent figures, academicians, scholars, and rights activists.

Accordingly, Kusumba Road is named after 1965 Indo-Pakistan war hero Shahid Abdul Hamid, Quidwai Road is named after freedom fighter Rafi Ahmed Kidwai. Maulana Azad Road is named after freedom fighter, India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Abdullah Nagar named after Maulana Abdullah Azmi, a pioneer of education in Malegaon, and Aisha Nagar named after the first and only female MLA of Malegaon to list some.

However, these roads and areas of Malegaon are becoming disgrace and unfit to be named after renowned personalities as they are slowly turning into hubs of drug trafficking. The drug menace till last year was reportedly limited to a small section of powerloom operators and those associated with the sector. But now, it has allegedly penetrated deeper among the labour class simultaneously knocking the doors of schools and colleges.

“Among these areas Kusumba Road is the drug trafficking hot spot”, a top official at Malegaon Police Department, who did not wish to be named, told ummid.com.

“Since it is surrounded by slums where literacy is yet to make inroads and where most of the residents are poor and below poverty line, it makes it easier for drug trafficking and other criminal activities to flourish and go unhindered”, he said.

Drug trade however is not limited to Kusumba Road alone, as claimed by the police officials, it has taken into its grip almost the entire city. What’s more worrying is that the supply of illegal drugs just don’t take place in night but also in broad day light, local residents alleged.

“Can you see that thela gadi? There are such thela gadis on the roads openly selling objectionable items and nobody cares”, F. Khan (name changed), alleged.

F. Khan is a worried parent who has to take his 9-year-old son to school via the roads dotted by doubtful street vendors every day. It was 01:30 PM when he spoke to ummid.com.

These thela gadis have snacks and other food items on display. But behind the scene some of them are used to run “dubious businesses”.

“Not all but some street vendors, thela gadis, paan shops, and even kirana shops have dual businesses”, those residing nearby alleged.

Transition from Kutta Goli to MD

Malegaon, originally famous for its textile produce, has been in news till recently for frequent seizures of cannabis, marijuana and especially antidepressant drug Alprazolam – a scheduled drug sold illegally in Malegaon by the code names like ‘kutta goli’, ‘button’ etc.

Alprazolam or kutta goli of late was mostly consumed by the loom operators, especially those working in night shifts.

“You will find 9 in 10 loom operators in night shifts consuming drugs”, A Rehman (name changed), a technical supervisor or mukadam at a local powerloom factory, said while talking to ummid.com.

(A textile factory in Malegaon. (File image))

Malegaon is home to more than 275,000 power looms which are known to have been operating round the clock and 24×7. The powerloom labourers, loom operators or mazdoors work in two shifts of 12 hours each.

“Most of the mazdoors, predominantly in night shift, are regular at kutta goli whereas some consume ganja or bhang (cannabis and marijuana) while some do both. There are also some others who are hard drinkers”, A Rehman, the chief loom technician, said.

The consumption of kutta goli or other drugs is not limited to loom mazdoors but has allegedly taken into its grips others too, including the weavers and loom owners.

After reports that illegal sales and consumption of Alprazolam or kutta goli in Malegaon is fast spreading, Police Department and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) came into action. Raids were conducted and drugs worth hundreds of thousands of rupees were seized and recovered.

At the same time, Sachin Patil, then Superintendent of Police (SP) Nashik Rural Police, also spoke with the health officials of Malegaon to start a counselling centre at the Malegaon General Hospital to help people come out of the addiction, The Times of India said in a report dated January 23, 2022.

The counselling centre however never saw the light of the day. In the meantime, Alprazolam addiction in Malegaon was slowly and quietly replaced by Mephedrone.

“Because of the crackdown on kutta goli its supply is disrupted but not the drug addiction as kutta goli has now been replaced in Malegaon by MD”, a police official told ummid.com on the condition of anonymity.

Mephedrone and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as Ecstasy, and Molly or simply MD and MDMA, are an empathogen–entactogenic drugs with stimulant and minor psychedelic properties. Mephedrone and MDMA are both constituents of party drugs, with mephedrone being relatively new compared to MDMA.

Drugs menace closing in on schools, colleges?

Malegaon has a Textile Park some 05 kilometres from the main city, thanks to the efforts by Malegaon Industries and Manufacturers Association (MIMA). But, close to 300,000 power looms that make Malegaon one of the largest textile clusters in India, are scattered all across the city.

And, hence the thela gadis, paan stalls, and those allegedly selling the illegal drugs by standing in nooks and corners of the textile city make every section of the society, including students, vulnerable to drug menace.

“Three days ago one of our students came to school and started vomiting. After enquiry, he revealed that someone offered him chocolate while he was on his way to school”, Principal (Acting) of A.T.T. High School and Junior College, Abdus Sattar, told ummid.com.

(A.T.T. High Schools and other institutes in the area together have more than 25,000 students. Faces blurred to protect identities. (Photo: ummid.com)

The incident panicked the school administration as reports that the area surrounding the school is used by anti-social elements and illegal drug traffickers have been reaching them with regular intervals.

“Bun’kar Bazaar is the main hub of those involved in drugs trafficking and drug abuse”, Shafique Colour and Ansari Shahid, both Physical Teachers of A.T.T. High School who monitor the movements of the students, said.

Incidentally, A.T.T. High School is located just meters away from Kusumba Road. While Kusumba Road is on one side of the A.T.T. High School, Bun’kar Bazaar, located on the end of Quidwai Road, is at its exact opposite.

The Bun’kar Bazaar is a typical case and glaring example showing the failure of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC). The Malegaon Civic Body had started the construction of Bun’kar Bazaar in 1983 which stopped midway. The premises in its present incomplete form is misused by anti-social elements.

Alarmed by the alleged illegal activities at Bun’kar Bazaar, All India Momin Conference Malegaon Unit held a series of meetings with the Municipal Commissioner in May-July 2023 and requested him to complete the construction of Bun’kar Bazaar at its earliest.

Following the representation by Momin Conference Malegaon, Congress MP representing Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha, Imran Pratapgarhi, promised to provide funds for the incomplete Bun’kar Bazaar.

Besides A.T.T. High School, also located near the incomplete Bun’kar Bazaar on Quidwai Road, allegedly used by those involved in drug abuse, is Malegaon City College and J.A.T. Girls High School.

“Together these schools and colleges have more than 25,000 students, and all these students are vulnerable and at the risk of drug menace”, Ansari Shahid said.

Complicating the situation for these schools and colleges is the Bhangar Bazar.

“Bhangar Bazaar is not only the major source of nuisance and disturbance for our and nearby institutions but also hazardous for students”, Abdul Majeed Siddiqui, Secretary of A.T.T. High School Management, told ummid.com.

(Common Scene: Students on their way to schools but stop at Bhangar Bazaar instead. (ummid.com photo))

He said the school and college administrations had a number of times sent representations to local officials as well as Prime Minister, Governor and Chief Minister to look into the matter but to no avail.

“Every time we raised the issue, temporary actions are taken but the Bhangar Bazaar remains as it is and unmoved”, he said.

It is alleged that e-cigarettes, vapes and e-hookah are available in the Bhangar Bazaar easily and on throw-away prices, luring students to vaping at an early age.

“Vaping is fast becoming common among the students. For the city like Malegaon, students do not get hefty pocket money, and hence Bhangar Bazaar comes handy for them”, another teacher said.

Realising the danger of vaping and e-cigarettes, a prominent institution of Malegaon has recently suspended some of its students after receiving repeated complaints against them.

“One can’t deny the fact that students are being lured to drugs by anti-social elements who are using different tactics. Our institution regularly conducts searches, especially in the hostel. Whenever we find any objectionable thing, we first warn the students. If they don’t abide the rules after repeated warnings, they are suspended”, a faculty member, who is also hostel incharge, said.

Drug threat to students real

While school and colleges in Malegaon are still evaluating the spread of drugs in schools and colleges, Maulana Umrain Mahfooz Rahmani – General Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said the risk to students is real.

“Few days ago I received a call from a doctor couple who are residing in front of the main gate of a school. One day they saw someone handing over something to a student. They ignored but the same thing came to their notice again, and then multiple times.

“The entire movements of the givers and takers were suspicious. Alarmed, they alerted the school which is probing the matter”, Maulana Rahmani, who is based in Malegaon, told ummid.com.

(ummid.com found these students vaping using e-cigarette on October 02, 2024 on Maulana Azad Road. Faces blurred to protect identities. (Photo: ummid.com))

A BBC report dated August 12, 2024 highlighted how e-cigarettes and vaping are leading students to drug addiction. The British broadcaster in its report said a team of University of Bath Prof Chris Pudney had confiscated vapes from 38 schools across England, including London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire. The team found that out of nearly 600 confiscated vapes, 1 in 6 contained Spice and 1 in 100 contained THC.

Spice is cheaper to produce than cannabis but has much more potent effects and many people purchasing Spice vapes believe they are getting genuine THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol – a cannabinoid found in cannabis, the BBC said.

In UK and other Western countries the sale of e-cigarette to someone under the age of 18 is prohibited. On the other hand, India is one of the few countries that has completely banned electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) that includes e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah and other similar devices.

Despite the ban, people have easy access to e-cigarettes. While working on this story, ummid.com found some students of a nearby school vaping on Maulana Azad Road in broad day light. Incidentally, it was October 02 – a holiday, and the students were called for extra classes, they told ummid.com.

Battle against drugs

The police department in Malegaon too is aware of the threat the drug menace is posing to the City of Powerlooms, and taking all steps for its elimination.

“We have registered some 25 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) in the ongoing year whereas the number of registered cases in 2022 was just 02”, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DYSP) Malegaon, Tegbir Singh Sandhu (IPS), told ummid.com.

He however also sought support from the civil society for complete eradication of drug menace from Malegaon.

Maulana Rahmani agreed with the idea of involving the civil society in the fight against drugs. He however said the illegal drug traders in the City have the backing of some political leaders and the very people responsible for its eradication.

“The fight against drugs will never be successful unless this nexus is broken”, he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also probably talking about the “same nexus” when he was advocating the need for a ‘Top to Bottom’ approach to dismantle the entire drugs network and make India drug free.

“We need to work with a ‘Top to Bottom and Bottom to Top’ approach, and dismantle the entire network in a ruthless manner. Unless we attack the entire network, we will not be able to achieve the goal of a drug-free India,” Amit Shah said while unveiling the zonal unit office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur on August 25, 2024.

Against this backdrop, the onus lies on the Malegaonians to save the City from becoming “Udta Malegaon”.

(The writer, Aleem Faizee, is Founder Editor of ummid.com. He can be reached at [email protected].)

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