Narinderpura, a mansa village where addict steal electric meters, sell bricks and even trees to arrange money for drugs

Drug addiction spells ruin for Mansa village
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Narinderpura (Mansa) July 23
Daljit Singh once tilled 25 acres of land on a contract basis. Along with his elder brother, he owned 12 buffaloes and a large house. Life seemed perfect, until their elder brother Manjit Singh took to drugs.

He turned violent and began eating into the family savings. He sold the family land. With the cattle gone too, he sold bricks of the cattle-shed and even a neem tree that gave shade to the house. He hanged himself to death when he ran out of money to buy drugs. Daljit now works as a labourer. He has no money to take land on lease. Married to his dead brother's wife, he has three children to take care of. This is the story of several families in the village.

Most youths in the village, belonging to Jat and SC families, are hooked on drugs, claim the residents. Jarnail Singh, a village elder, said: “Our village may become as infamous as Maqboolpura in Amritsar, which is known as the village of widows," he said.

There is hardly any house in the village not affected by the menace. "The electricity meter outside my house was stolen recently. Pipes, taps and wires are often stolen from houses by addicts who sell these for a few hundred rupees to buy drugs," said Darshan singh, a farmer.

Sources said peddlers sold drugs, especially smack, in small quantity at about Rs 30 per one-hundreth of a gram. "When we nab them with such small quantity, they get bail in a few months," said a police officer. Mansa SSP Narinder Bhargav said: "Owing to the village's proximity with Haryana and Rajasthan, smugglers are often able to sneak into the village. We are keeping an eye on them."

Gurpreet Singh, who quit drugs after a long battle, offers a ray of hope to others. He now works on his farm with his father. "After a long struggle, I am now cured of addiction."

Our village may become as infamous as Maqboolpura in Amritsar, which is known as the village of widows
— Jarnail Singh, a villager

Owing to the village's proximity with Rajasthan and Haryana, smugglers are able to sneak into the village. We are keeping an eye on them
— Narinder Bhargav, SSP