Manveer Kaur's misfortune exemplifies, in a horribly extreme manner, the misfortune of Maqboolpura neighbourhood of Punjab's Amritsar district.

A domestic worker, she has been wodowed twice, having lost her successive husbands to drug abuse. Manveer's bereavements fit into a larger pattern of most of the women in her neighbourhood losing husbands or other male relatives to drug abuse, earning Maqboolpura the sobriquet, 'widows' locality'.

Manveer is now a voluntary narrator of the horrors of drug abuse for United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

On the release of the World Drug Report 2010 by UNODC on Thursday, she told journalists: I lost my first husband to drugs and then was married to his younger brother, who too died of drug abuse. I have two little daughters and an old mother-in-law. Drugs destroyed my life and the lives of countless others in the area.”

In fact, drug abuse is implicated in the death of six out of seven people in Manveer's in-laws' family.

A poor neighbourhood inhabited by low-wage workers, Maqboolpura, in turn, fits nicely into an even larger and worrying pattern that's threatening Punjab's society. Official data shows that 67 per cent of rural households in Punjab have at least one drug addict. There is at least one drug addict in the 65 per cent of families in Majha and Doaba regions of the state and 64 percent of families in Malwa.

"Initially it was charas, smack and opium. Now people are also using capsules and injections from local chemist shops," says Amanpreet Singh, a student from the area who has taken to raising awareness about the problem of drug abuse. The increasing use of needles for drug abuse has made the state vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

“It is like time bomb ticking in Punjab, which can explode anytime. The state was known as the land of five rivers now will have a sixth river of blood of the drugs victims," he says.

Amanpreet’s parents, Ajit Singh and Satpaul Kaur, run a school for the children who have drug addicts in their families.

“My parents try to provide a psychological shield to the children from the damaging effects of drug abuse,” says Amanpreet. Ajit and Satpaul have lately been joined by Brij Bedi, husband of famous IPS officer Kiran Bedi, in strengthening the school and collecting funds.

Starting in 1999 with 20 students, the school now has over 400 children, including Manveer's two daughters, getting education and psychological support.

Amanpreet says he and his family have carried on their fight against drug abuse despite several threats from the drugs mafia.

Arshiya Sethi, a scholar who has studied the problem of drug abuse in Punjab, says: “A large part of Malwa, Majha and Doaba has fallen victim to drug trafficking and abuse. It is not only the drug menace but also irresponsible behaviour which makes Punjab a likely case for HIV explosion.”

A Punjab government survey indicated that Tarn Taran is the most affected rural district and Amritsar is the most affected urban district in Punjab. These figures were submitted by the Department of Social Security and Women & Child Development, Chandigarh, in reply to a petition filed by some to drug rehabilitation centres before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The use of the synthetic drugs has also been increasing. “There is frequent use of the catamine and other pain killers used in the form of drugs,” said Sethi. “They have enough money and wrongly placed sense of pride. The state continues to be in the denial mode,” Sethi added.

The central government is aware of the large scale problem in the state; the centre and state agencies are engaged in the effort, Ish Kumar, deputy director general of the Narcotics control bureau, ministry of home affairs, told Governance Now.

About the specific question on Maqboolpura, the deputy director general said, “I am aware the state opened an anti-narcotics centre in Amritsar around two-year ago. The narcotics control bureau and intelligence cell have been sanctioned in Amritsar. It is a long drawn effort and more effort needs to be done.”