Not just black jaggery, people manufacturing gudumba — illegally distilled (ID) liquor — are also using white jaggery or sugar.
Officials said that these were old practices being used to circumvent restrictions imposed due to lockdown. With the rise in demand, production of this ID liquor has increased in rural areas.
“When black jaggery is not available, white jaggery or sugar is being used. This old practice is used even now,” said an official from the Telangana Prohibition and Excise department.
Several restrictions are being imposed on the sale of black or white jaggery to bring down gudumba manufacture. Excise Minister V. Srinivas Goud has directed officials to book cases under PD Act against those resorting to grave violations related to sale of gudumba.
It was reported in these columns that Prohibition and Excise officials had seized 7,319 litres of gudumba between March 22 and April 26. Of it, the highest of 811 litres was seized in Warangal Rural followed by 710 litres in Nagarkurnool. The department’s staff had also destroyed 1.25 lakh litres of wash, which is the fermented form of jaggery.
Excise deputy commissioner for Warangal division Suresh Rathod said that they implemented restrictions on sale of jaggery from wholesale stores. “Large quantities of gudumba was seized from rural areas near towns, where there is a high demand for it,” Mr. Rathod said.
He added that the ID liquor was produced in Warangal Rural earlier too, before the excise department cracked the whip on it more than three years ago.
Excise deputy commissioner for Mahabubnagar S.Y. Qureshi too said that the high incidence of violation and active raids by their teams led to seizure of 710 litres of gudumba from Nagarkurnool, the second highest quantity seized in any district in Telangana.
