Hooch wrecks lives in TS

Whither Bangaru Telangana dream?

Hyderabad: Brace for a shocking revelation! Nearly fifty per cent of the widows, who are registered under Aasara pension scheme in Telangana State, are the victims of illicit liquor (ID) or otherwise popularly known as ‘gudumba.’ According to official figures, there are about 13,11,790 widows who are registered under the scheme in the State.

Out of them, as many as 6.71 lakh have lost their bread-earners in hooch tragedies. The remaining are wives of distressed farmers and weavers who had committed suicides and those who succumbed to fatal accidents or ill-health. Statistics indicate that Mahbubnagar district stood first in the hooch tragedies registering 1.1 lakh deaths due to consumption of ID liquor, followed by Warangal (74,000), Nalgonda (71,000), Ranga Reddy (70,000), Karimnagar (69,000), Medak (64,000), Adilabad (60,000), Nizamabad (58,000), Khammam (55,000) and Hyderabad (40,000).

The officials of the Telangana State Excise and Prohibition Department informed The Hans India that the illicit-distilled liquor menace was rampant in Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Karimnagar, Medak and Nalgonda districts where the liquor mafia in collusion with local leaders is selling spurious liquor for huge monetary gains.

In Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad districts, the sale of adulterated toddy in the permitted shops is the main reason for increasing the deaths. Mixing of diazepam and other hazardous chemicals in toddy is claiming the lives of many people in the two districts, the officials claim.

Growing political influence and lack of awareness on the ill-effects of liquor consumption are the main reasons for the spate of deaths in the State. Lack of strong laws also weakens the department to curb the menace. With a view to wiping out all the liquor dens, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao instructed the officials to come out with a strong Excise policy. Given the indications, the new policy would come into force from October.

By:Patan Afzal Babu