The Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) police in Cuddalore district are at their wits’ end as customers from outlying villages in the district are wading through the waist-deep water in the Thenpennaiar and crossing over to Puducherry in order to buy arrack.
With the district police sealing all the entry points to Puducherry during the COVID-19 lockdown and with liquor shops reopening in the Union Territory, a wet pocket, customers from Cuddalore have been braving the waters, which virtually divides the border.
Arrack shops located on the northern side of the river in Puducherry limits attract a good number of customers including those from neighbouring districts in Tamil Nadu. With the price of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) being higher in Puducherry, following imposition of special excise duty, making their price on a par with Tamil Nadu district’s products, customers have switched over to consuming arrack, an official said.
But arrack is available only in Puducherry as it is the only place in South India with a licence to sell it, he added. “The zeal to drink, therefore, makes the customers find alternative routes to reach Araichikuppam in Puducherry and return home in Cuddalore and neighbouring pockets after drinking the brew,” an arrack dealer said.
A senior police official pointed out that those wading through the river might contract the pandemic while moving about the arrack shops in Puducherry and would spread the ailment in Cuddalore once they return. Sources said this was not the first time that customers from outlying villages have resorted to such desperate actions. An arrack shop owner had pressed a coracle into service to ferry customers from Cuddalore to Puducherry a few years back.
Earlier, the shop owners had erected a makeshift bridge to enable customers to cross over. However, it was removed and a stern warning was issued. The Cuddalore police posted more men at the border villages and alerted their counterparts in Puducherry to strengthen vigil, he added.
