Drugs not easily available, de-addiction centres witness rush
With access to drugs dwindling in villages and urban areas after the efforts made by the district administration, more individuals struggling with addiction are now voluntarily approaching de-addiction centres and Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres for help. From the previous only 8 to 10 patients per month who were seeking help at the government de-addiction centres, the number had now soared to nearly 121 patients in May.
Sharing data for various months of 2025, Dr Kirandeep Kaur stated that only 10 patients had enrolled for treatment in January, which dropped to 5 in February. However, the numbers rose to 21 in March, 67 in April and then sharply increased to 121 in May. Similar trends have also been recorded at OOAT centres, where government-supplied medication is provided to drug addicts on a daily basis. The average number of registrations hovered around 90 in February, but then jumped to 158 in March and 104 in April.
Dr Kirandeep further stated that under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, they had arranged for a total of 720 beds across various government and private de-addiction and rehabilitation facilities.
Sakshi said, “For the beds pledged for the cause, private de-addiction centres would not charge any fee and like government hospitals, the treatment is free of cost.” She added that MoUs have been signed with various agencies to provide free of cost treatment.
The private centres roped up by the administration include Bhatia Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Dr Harjot Singh Makkar’s Neuropsychiatry Centre, Parivartan Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, Samarpan Hospital, Naya Savera Hospital, Kiran Hospital and Barkat Psychiatric and De-addiction Centre.
In addition to de-addiction centres, the city also hosts several private rehabilitation facilities providing longer-term support. These include the New Hope Centre at Butari village (30 beds), The Hermitage on Verka-Majitha bypass (50 beds), New Life Rehabilitation Centre in Mira Kot Kalan (40 beds), Navjeevan Centre on Ram Tirath Road (40 beds), Umeed Foundation in Manawala (30 beds), Jeevan Jagriti at Manawala (25 beds) and Mindlinks Centre in Khiala Khurd (20 beds), totalling 235 beds in private rehabilitation centres.
Dr Kirandeep emphasised that services at government de-addiction centres were completely free of cost, and patients were not required to be accompanied by an attendant. She appealed to the people to take full advantage of these services, encouraging families and individuals to step forward and seek help, stating that comprehensive treatment and post-recovery rehabilitation were being delivered effectively to help patients reintegrate into society.
