Poppy-Driven Floods Devastate Imphal East, Are Hill DFOs Asleep at the Wheel?

On September 9, 2025, a devastating flash flood tore through Sabungkhok and Shantikhongbal in Imphal East district of Manipur, submerging over 30 homes, ruining crop fields, and wiping out fish farms. The villagers, left to pick up the pieces, were stunned—not by heavy rains, for there were none, but by the inexplicable deluge. "A flood without rain?" one resident asked in disbelief, echoing the people's growing suspicion that the real culprit lies in the hills surrounding the valley. 

In Manipur, a state where 74 percent of the land is cloaked in forest and revered as Asia’s biodiversity hotspot, the chilling phrase "No more forest office, no more reserve forest" echoes among its citizens. The devastation began in May 2023, when Kuki mobs torched and ravaged forest offices, raising a haunting question: have forest officials vanished from the hills? Illegal roads now carve through the reserved forests of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, encroaching on vital ecosystems, while poppy plantations spread across the hills, leading to the recent flash flood in Imphal East. 

Social worker and Congress activist Achoibam Deben from Lamlai constituency has highlighted this devastating link between recent flooding in Imphal East and deforestation in nearby hills of Kangpokpi district. He noted that moderate rainfall over the past few days triggered water to cascade unchecked from deforested hill ranges, inundating several homes. The large-scale clearing of forests for poppy cultivation has stripped the hills of their natural vegetation, leaving them vulnerable to erosion and exacerbating the risk of natural calamities for surrounding villages. “These hills once absorbed rainwater, but now, with trees gone, water rushes down, flooding our homes,” Deben explained.

Lourembam Nganbi, president of Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL), has also accused the Forest Department of contributing to Manipur’s destruction through its inaction. She criticized the department’s weakness in failing to curb encroachments in reserved forest areas, allowing poppy cultivation to flourish unchecked. “The Forest Department’s failure to take proper action has enabled illegal activities to devastate our forests,” Nganbi stated, pointing to the department’s negligence as key factor in recent ethnic conflicts and the flash floods and landslides across the state.

On September 2, former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh posted a video on his Facebook account exposing widespread poppy plantations in the Kotlen and Songpijang hill ranges along the IT road, under Kangpokpi Police Station and Waichong Sub-Division. These areas, located within the Kangchup Leimakhong Irang Protected Forest in Kangpokpi district, Manipur, reveal the alarming scale of illegal cultivation. 

In his post, N Biren sharply questioned the Forest Department’s inaction, asking, “Is the Forest Department even watching, or have they chosen to ignore this altogether?” His public outcry highlights the department’s failure to address the rampant deforestation occurring under their jurisdiction, further fueling concerns about their effectiveness in protecting Manipur’s forests. His words recall the administration’s successes during his government, but highlight the current inertia under President’s Rule. DFOs in the Hills, once his allies in the drug war, now seem absent, their inaction betraying Manipur’s forests and people. He was right in questioning them. Since 2023, the  DFOs’ proactive stance has evaporated. The question looms: why have these forest  officers, once vigilant, abandoned their duty?

Under his command, the “War on Drugs” campaign showed what determined leadership could achieve. District Forest Officers in Kangpokpi and Churachandpur led aggressive drives against poppy cultivators, destroying 19,135 acres of illicit plantations across 12 districts by 2024, achieving a 32 percent reduction in poppy cultivation. In Kangpokpi alone, DFO N. Ganesh oversaw the clearing of over 590 acres, filing 14 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (ND&PS) Act and summoning 23 village authorities for abetting cultivation.

Working with concerned District police and the Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB), these officials invoked the Indian Forest Act of 1927 and ND&PS Act of 1985 to punish offenders. Ganesh has emphasized the need for real-time satellite monitoring to overcome staffing shortages, a strategy that kept poppy growers at bay. Those short era proved that DFOs in the hills could act decisively when supported by political will and community tips from village chiefs, who identified illegal encroachments and poppy plantations in remote areas. 

However, the present catastrophe in Imphal East is not an isolated event but a symptom of a broader, man-made ecological disaster fueled by the inaction of District Forest Officers (DFOs) in Manipur’s hill districts, particularly in Kangpokpi. Why are these officials, tasked with safeguarding our reserve and protected forests, standing idly by as poppy cultivation and illegal activities devastate completely under their watch?

The total forests areas of the state, spanning 16,598 square kilometers—74 percent of the state’s land—are a lifeline for 3.5 million people and a cornerstone of Northeast India’s ecological balance. Yet, Global Forest Watch reports a staggering loss of 255,000 hectares of tree cover since 2001, a 15 percent decline that has released 150 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents into the atmosphere. 

Between 2021 and 2025, 52,000 acres (21,000 hectares) vanished, with 17,800 hectares lost in 2024 alone, equivalent to 9 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions. This deforestation, driven largely by illicit poppy cultivation, has turned lush hills into barren wastelands, triggering floods and landslides that devastate downstream communities. The DFOs in the hills, once champions of forest protection, have become shockingly inactive since the ethnic violence of May 3, 2023, allowing this ecological devastation to unfold unchecked under their watch.

According to data shared by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in the Lok Sabha, illegal opium poppy cultivation in Manipur during 2023-24 spanned 45.68 square kilometers (11,288 acres). The breakdown reveals that unclassed forests accounted for the largest share, with 20.40 sq km (5,041 acres) under poppy cultivation, followed by protected forests at 19.24 sq km (4,754 acres), reserved forests at 3.47 sq km (857 acres), proposed reserved forests at 2.51 sq km (620 acres), and protected wildlife areas at 0.06 sq km (14 acres). 

Kangpokpi district led with 17.49 sq km (4,322 acres), followed by Senapati at 9.44 sq km (2,332 acres) and Ukhrul at 6.47 sq km (1,598 acres). Other districts, including Churachandpur (6.02 sq km, 1,487 acres), Kamjong (4.21 sq km, 1,040 acres), Chandel (0.91 sq km, 224 acres), Tengnoupal (0.50 sq km, 123 acres), Noney (0.47 sq km, 116 acres), and Tamenglong (0.17 sq km, 42 acres), also reported significant cultivation, highlighting the widespread encroachment into Manipur’s forest areas.

The ethnic violence of May 3, 2023, marked a turning point. In Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, and Tengnoupal, the Forest Department has been effectively crippled. Kuki miscreants burned 15 forest offices between April and June 2023, starting with the Tuibong range office on April 29 and ending with the Pherzawl DFO office on June 24. In Churachandpur, seven offices, including the Bijang DFO and Saikot beat, were torched. Kangpokpi lost five, such as the Motbung DFO and Sapermeina beat, while Tengnoupal saw two offices in Moreh razed. Irreplaceable records—reserved forest notifications, maps, and correspondences—were reduced to ashes, gutting administrative capacity. FIRs were filed, but police investigations have stalled, leaving no accountability for the arson. The hill DFOs, once empowered, now seem powerless, their authority eroded as poppy growers exploit the chaos. Why have these officers not fought back to reclaim their mandate?

Adding to this failure is the unchecked influence of groups like the Sadar Hills Chiefs’ Association (SAHILCA), an unauthorized entity issuing diktats to forest officials in Kangpokpi. SAHILCA has banned all Forest Department activities and state initiatives in Sadar Hills, citing the ethnic conflict, and blocked programs like “Go to Hills” and “Go to Villages.” This interference halts patrols and anti-encroachment drives, yet hill DFOs have taken no action against SAHILCA, allowing poppy cultivators to operate under its shadow. This inaction raises serious questions: why are DFOs tolerating such obstructions under President’s Rule, which was meant to restore order?

The consequences of their silence are dire. In July 2025, flash floods in Churachandpur damaged 115 homes, while over 90 landslides struck the illegally constructed Kangpokpi-Churachandpur road, a 343 km-long scar through protected forests built without environmental clearances. These illegal roads, slicing through reserves and the protected forests in Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, facilitate and drug transport while destabilizing soil. 

Despite protests from local communities, including Naga groups, concerned DFOs have  not spoken a single words, or done nothing to halt their construction or penalize those responsible for encroaching the forest lands. These roads, coupled with poppy-driven deforestation, directly fuel the floods and landslides plaguing Manipur. The Sabungkhok flood and Churachandpur landslides are not natural disasters but the fallout of systemic neglect by hill DFOs who fail to act.

Having said that, forest officials in the valley districts show what enforcement can achieve. In Thoubal, DFO Dr. Leishangthem Jeeceelee led an eviction drive in Gwarok Reserved Forest, dismantling illegal structures with support from Nongpok Sekmai Police and range officers from Thoubal and Kakching. In Imphal Central, patrols protect Ngariyan Hills and Cheirao Ching, with 18 unauthorized structures evicted from Heingang Reserved Forest in August 2025. 

On July 29, 2025, the Forest Department banned illegal entry, camping, and trekking in Langol Reserve Forest and Punshilok, citing ecological damage and invoking Section 26 of the Indian Forest Act, which carries penalties of up to six months’ imprisonment or fines. In Imphal East and Jiribam, June 19, 2025, orders prohibit unauthorized excavation or transport of forest produce like timber and boulders, with violations triggering equipment seizures and prosecutions. These actions, backed by district police, demonstrate that DFOs can protect forests when they act decisively. Why, then, do hill DFOs remain paralyzed?

Fear may be a factor. In January 2025, a mob of 80 people attacked a security team destroying poppy in Kangpokpi’s Lhungjang hill range, damaging four vehicles. CRPF and police used minimal force to resume operations, but such incidents deter patrols. The 2023 burning of forest offices seems designed to intimidate, and hill DFOs have since retreated, perhaps wary of Kuki militants or poppy-linked mobs. This timidity has allowed illegal activities to flourish, from poppy cultivation to unauthorized road construction, all under their watch.

The people of Manipur demand accountability, transparency, and unwavering dedication from District Forest Officers and district administrations in the hills to protect the reserved forests—a national treasure nestled in the state’s hills. District Forest Officers must deliver a resolute response to groups like SAHILCA, who ban forest officials from entering government lands to further their private interests through illegal encroachment. 

Despite the mobs who torched forest offices in Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, shouting "No more forest office, no reserve forest," and the encroachers carving illegal roads and expanding poppy plantations, forest officials must stand committed to the official responsibilities. Wake up now! 

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