Unregulated Settings & Hazardous Liquor: India's Hooch Tragedies In The Recent Past

After the most recent incident of hooch tragedies in India, where almost 70 individuals died, and several others were hospitalised in Bihar's Saran district due to the consumption of spurious liquor, waves of shock and grief spread across the nation.

In the wake of this mishap, more than six years after Bihar banned the sale of liquor in the state, we look at some of the worst hooch tragedies the country has seen in recent times.

Adulterants Used In Liquor

Hooch, derived from 'hoochinoo,' a distilled liquor made by the native Alaskan tribe, is inexpensive, made in small, unregulated settings, and does not incur excise duty. This low-quality drink is typically prepared by combining chemicals with water and then drank by individuals. It is more often offered in states that have enforced a total prohibition on alcohol in the state, causing more individuals to fall victim.

Various adulterants are frequently used to boost the strength of the liquor. Given the difficulties of distillation without suitable equipment, the resultant product is typically safe but watered down. Adulterants are used to compensate for this. Organic waste, battery acid, and industrial-grade Methanol are a few dangerous substances.

Using inappropriate adulterants in the wrong amounts raises the hazards connected with hooch. For starters, it may make liquor significantly more intoxicating, causing consequences such as blackouts, memory loss, and extreme intoxication even with small amounts of liquor consumed. Second, when adulterants such as Methanol are significant, the liquor is unsafe to ingest and can be fatal.

After ingesting the hooch, a person has hazy vision, stiffness in the body, extremely low blood pressure, and numbness in the organs below the waist before collapsing.

Similar Tragic Disasters

In India, almost 6,000 fatalities were attributed to the drinking of fake alcohol in the five years between 2016 and 2020, according to Lok Sabha data released on July 19, 2022, as reported by the Business Standard.

Bihar
Six people died in the Nalanda region of Bihar in January of this year in what was considered a hooch disaster in the dry state. During Holi this year, roughly 37 people died after drinking tainted liquor in three districts of Bihar. During Diwali in 2021, more than 30 people reportedly lost their lives because of suspected spurious liquor. The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act was passed in 2016 with the intention of "enforcing, implementing, and promoting the complete prohibition of liquor and intoxicants in the territory of the state of Bihar."

Gujarat
The death toll in July 2022 due to spurious alcohol consumption in the dry state of Gujarat went up to 40. Following the event, the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of Ahmedabad rural, Virendra Singh Yadav and Botad Karanraj Vaghela, were removed. Six police officers, ranging in rank from sub-inspector to deputy superintendent of police, have also been suspended due to the investigation.

West Bengal
Six individuals died, and 20 were hospitalized in Howrah's area of West Bengal in July 2022 after consuming liquor. In 2018, a similar incident occurred in West Bengal's Nadia district, where alcohol was reported to be laced with Methanol.

Uttar Pradesh
In February this year, Uttar Pradesh witnessed a deadly hooch disaster where more than 40 people were hospitalized after complaining of severe health issues, and at least six died. However, in a shocking incident in 2019, toxic alcohol claimed at least 100 lives in Uttar Pradesh.

Punjab
According to officials, at least 86 individuals have died in Punjab after consuming tainted whiskey in August 2020. The state police conducted a significant raid, arresting at least 30 persons from various regions of the state.

Assam
Hooch consumption in Assam resulted in around 145 fatalities in the Jorhat and Golaghat districts in February 2019.

The findings of the Mehta Commission in Gujarat, formed in the aftermath of the 2009 Ahmedabad disaster that resulted in over 140 deaths, indicated an extraordinarily low percentage of bootlegger convictions and the police's inability to monitor their illicit operations despite having pertinent information, reported Deccan Herald. A higher conviction rate for hooch makers and stringent policies to check the sale of illicit liquor is the need of the hour to avoid these instances in the future.

Also Read: Hooch Tragedy: Death Toll Mounts To 82 In 'Dry State' Bihar, CM Nitish Kumar Denies Compensation For Victims