The death toll in the Tamil Nadu alcohol tragedy in two northern districts rose to 14 on Monday and 51 people who consumed the poisonous concoction were being treated at various hospitals, the government said.
After visiting those being treated at the Villupuram government medical college hospital, Chief Minister MK Stalin told reporters here that the investigation of the matter will be transferred to CB-CID and assured that further harsh measures.
According to the police preliminary investigation, the use of methanol by illicit brewers has led to tragedy.
Calls against illegal liquor
AIADMK chief and opposition leader K Palaniswami said he had spoken in the Assembly about increasing availability of “illicit liquor” in Tamil Nadu. If the government had taken appropriate measures, such incidents could have been avoided.
“Prime Minister Stalin is fully responsible. He should resign from his position, he is an inept CM,” he told reporters in Tiruchirappalli. He alleged the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. BJP head of state K Annamalai also criticized the ruling DMK over the issue.
After consuming illicit liquor, nine people died in Villupuram district and another five in Chengelpet district.
The nine people were from the fishing village of Ekkiyarkuppam, near Marakkanam, in the Villupuram district. In Villupuram, 40 people are being treated at the medical college hospital here in Mundiyampakkam. Three others were being treated at the JIPMER Hospital and another person at the Puducherry government hospital.
Stalin said that in Perunkaranai village of Chengelpet district, five people died after drinking illicit concoction and seven people were being treated at the Chengelpet government medical college hospital.
In both Villupuram and Chengelpet, methanol was used to make the brew and empty bottles of alcoholic beverages sold in TASMAC state stores were used in Chengelpet to fill the illicit liquor.
“I have ordered Rs 10 lakh solatium to the relatives of the deceased in the two incidents. To those who are being treated, assistance of Rs 50,000 has been provided.” The illegal brewers behind the two incidents have been arrested and all steps are being taken to arrest all those responsible, he said.
What makes methanol deadly?
Methanol has been the poison in every alcohol-related disaster in Indian and world history since 1945, according to a report by the wire. Most doctors in most nations incorrectly infer that chloral hydrate is the culprit and therefore offer ineffective treatments, according to the publication.
James Manor writes for the publication that it is critical that doctors and nurses are aware that methanol is always the problem, and that the antidote to methanol is ethanol. This may seem unusual, he says, but after consuming deadly methanol, the only effective treatment is to make the victim drink as much safe alcohol (ethanol) as possible. This is because ethanol successfully competes with methanol for an enzyme in the body that breaks down methanol into numerous components, including formaldehyde, which kills, blinds, and paralyzes people. If ethanol is consumed, the methanol will not break down and will travel through the body safely.
Many lives would be saved and horrible injuries avoided if every doctor and nurse in India understood nine crucial words, according to Manor: the poison is methanol and the antidote is ethanol.
The alcohol problem in Tamil Nadu
According to a Crisil survey, the state leads alcohol consumption, accounting for 13% of total alcohol consumption in the country, according to an Hindu report. The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, or TASMAC, controls all liquor sales and sells 160,000 cases of IMFL and 90,000 cases of beer per day. (IMFL, or Indian Made Foreign Liquor, refers to all strong alcoholic beverages, including whiskey, brandy, rum, gin, and vodka.)
Despite the fact that alcoholism is a huge social problem, the conditions under which alcohol is supplied and consumed in government-controlled shops are appalling, with no dignity for customers or staff, the report argues.
Given the low wages and poor working conditions, corruption and bad practices are common in stores. The sales team engages in a variety of wrongdoing, including overcharging customers, incorrect billing, and dilution of alcohol. Selling ‘cuttings’, slang for spirits sold by the pin rather than in sealed bottles, is a frequent side hustle, according to the report.
History
It was in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu in 1937 that the Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari imposed the ban, the first in the country. It spread throughout the state in 1948, immediately after independence.
This ban in Tamil Nadu continued with Kamaraj at the helm of state affairs.
The Madras Abkari Law was introduced in 1886 which imposed strict regulations and prohibited the sale of local liquor. This British policy favored the sale of foreign liquor rather than ‘desi’ drinks.
The DMK government led by party ideologue M. Karunanidhi, lifted the ban in 1971 citing loss of revenue without a nationwide ban and allowed the sale of arrack and toddy, the ‘desi drinks’. However, Karunanidhi had to stop the sale of toddy and arrack in 1974.
Prohibition of the arrack and toddy led to the manufacture of spurious drinks, and methanol, the industrial alcohol, became widely used and caused several deaths in the state in 1975-76. Later, MG Ramachandran (MGR) reintroduced the sale of liquor and toddy to the state when he was catapulted to power as AIADMK leader in 1981.
MGR even lowered the age for obtaining a liquor permit for the consumption of foreign liquor from 45 to 30 years. In 1981, Finance Minister VR Nedunchezhiyan further lowered the age to 25 years.
In 1983, the state government under MGR, established the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), and the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and arrack were incorporated into it. Six years after the sale of arrack and toddy began, the MGR government banned the local drinks on January 1, 1987, according to a 2022 report by IANS.
While in power in Tamil Nadu, politicians of all stripes justify the sale of alcoholic beverages by saying that the revenue generated through the huge taxes on alcoholic beverages is used to support social welfare schemes that have led to a robust rate of social for the state.
Gandhi activist M. Idiyanarayanan told IANS: “It is a wrong theory that you sell liquor, make money by charging drinkers a lot and use this money for welfare schemes.”
“Social assistance is a State issue and the money for it should not be generated through liquor; instead, policymakers must look for other avenues to raise money. Liquor is bad and the government should refrain from generating funds through the sale of liquor, creating disharmony in society.”
With contributions from PTI, IANS
