Little did 26-year-old Srinu (name changed), a labourer with alcohol dependency, knew that consumption of hand sanitiser suggested by a friend to relax after a hard day’s work will prove to be fatal for several of them.
While 16 of his friends died after consuming the toxic alcohol in the disinfectant, he and 40 others are fortunate to be alive after treatment at the Government General Hospital here.
In a desperate attempt to overcome the withdrawal symptoms, the youth addicted to liquor for over 12 years had consumed a hand sanitiser repeatedly for 10 days. One after another in the village tried it as they found it to be a cheap alternative to liquor which was not available in the State-run liquor shops in view of the lockdown in force to combat coronavirus.
They had suffered a serious damage to oesophagus and intestines, according to GGH Superintendent D. Sriramulu.
Not just in Kurichedu but in many other villages and towns in the district also liquor was unavailable as wine shops had been shut, says another patient Venkateswara Reddy (name changed) recuperating at the hospital. Moreover, the price of liquor sold at the State-run shops had been hiked making it unaffordable, he adds.
Toxic content
It was found during the probe that chemists had sold hand sanitisers indiscriminately to make a fast buck by taking advantage of the weakness of persons with alcohol dependency, mostly rickshaw-pullers, hamalis and other daily wage workers, Prakasam Superintendent of Police Siddarth Kaushal tells The Hindu. The sanitiser consumed by them was found to contain toxic methanol.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) zeroed in on a unit on the outskirts of Hyderabad which was making the sanitiser by diverting methonol used for industrial applications.
A special drive conducted by the police in Ongole and other parts of the district showed that most of the persons with high risk behaviour are unaware of the ill-effects of consuming a sanitiser.
Awareness drive
Andhra Pradesh Madya
Vimochana Prachara Committee chairman V. Lakshmana Reddy says, "We have taken up an awareness campaign at the grassroots level by roping in village volunteers and members of women’s self-help groups (SHGs) to wean addicts away from liquor."
There is an urgent need to regulate sale of hand sanitisers by chemists and impose a total ban on those with extremely toxic solvents in view of the health risk involved, feels Forum for Good Governance president Sunkara Saibabu.
