Statewide scare that there could be a “liquor tragedy” in the run-up to the Assembly elections has spurred the Excise Department to declare a red alert. Media reports, quoting intelligence sources, seemed to have set off the alarm.
Importantly, prominent ruling front politicians have also said that they see a conspiracy to cause liquor poisonings on a mass scale to undermine the government’s decision to close down ordinary bars and reduce the number of State-owned liquor outlets.
Some have even pointed an accusing finger at the Opposition and bar hoteliers who had lost their business. However, critics of the contentious liquor policy view the alert as a ruse by the government to bail itself out in the event of such a calamity.
Meanwhile, Excise Commissioner Anil Xavier told The Hindu that the department had no specific intelligence when or where a liquor tragedy would unfold in the State. However, he was privy to intelligence forecasts of a more general but imperative nature.
Taking no chances
Hence, the department was not taking any chances in the current sensitive situation. The high state of alert entailed increased vigil, patrolling, inspections, chemical sampling of toddy, vehicle checks and border inspections, he said.
Another excise official said the intelligence reports generated by various agencies on the possibility of liquor tragedy were so far sketchy. For instance, one said that on April 21 and April 22, two huge consignments of liquor were unloaded at Pozhiyoor, a densely populated coastal area in the capital. The report did not state much else. Any major combing operation in the area to unearth such a stash, if any, would definitely provoke antipathy towards the government, he said.
The State has, arguably, the highest rate of hard alcohol consumption in the country. The demand for cheap alcohol listed on the lowest rung of the liquor price catalogue was whopping. There was a yawning gap between demand and supply of affordable liquor and bootleggers and smugglers had stepped in to fill the gap.
Methanol-tainted spirit had in the past caused several mass liquor poisoning deaths in the State.
Most of the liquor tragedies were accidental. Those found responsible had used cheaper methyl-contaminated spirit to squeeze profits or to make up for the scarcity of costlier illicit ethanol sourced from distilleries in sugarcane growing areas in North India, enforcers said.
While ruling front alleges conspiracy by bar owners, critics say it is a ruse by govt.
