End of July witnessed one of the most horrifying hooch tragedies in Gujarat. The incident came to light when on the early morning of July 25, several people living in Rojid village in Botad town and other surrounding villages, were referred to government hospitals in the Barvala area and Botad town after their condition started deteriorating. Many people were admitted to hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad and Ahmedabad. It was soon found that these persons had consumed spurious liquor.

The death toll due to the consumption of spurious liquor went on rising and many victims lost their eye sight. Women and families of the victims looked helpless at the immense loss that stared in their faces. Many families lost their sole bread earners. According to the government, more than 42 deaths were reported due to the ‘Laththakand’ (poisoned liquor) at Botad, while in reality around 70 lives have been lost. The spurious liquor, also known as ‘lattha’ in local language, was supplied to over a 100 people in the villages of Ahmedabad, Botad and Surendranagar, according to the police.

As per the Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia, the liquor was made from the highly poisonous methyl alcohol. The police filed First Information Reports (FIRs) against 14 people on charges of murder and other offences, and most of them were detained. The Gujarat Home Department has formed a three-member committee, headed by senior Indian Police Service to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and submit a report within three days, as per a government release. Police investigation has revealed that a person named Jayesh had stolen 600 litres of methyl alcohol from a god own in Ahmedabad where he worked as a manager and then sold it to his Botad-based cousin Sanjay for Rs. 40,000 on July 25. Despite knowing that it was an industrial solvent, Sanjay sold the chemical to bootleggers of different villages of Botad. These bootleggers mixed water in the chemical and sold it to people as country-made liquor, police said.

Gujarat’s BJP Government said that the deaths were caused by “chemical poisoning” and also added that an analysis of the substance consumed by the victims by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Gandhinagar, has revealed the presence of 98.71 per cent to 98.99 per cent methyl alcohol. Instead of cracking down on the illicit liquor makers, the Gujarat Government is trying to cover up the tragedy by calling the ‘Liquor scandal’ a ‘Chemical scandal’. However, no action has been taken to find out the silent transportation of industrial methyl alcohol from industrial units of the State to the spurious liquor makers and bootleggers.

It appears that the rampant sale of the spurious liquor was brought to the notice of the police through letters by leaders of the villages but some of them were threatened with dire consequences for pursuing the complaints. It was Patel, a Congress leader, who complained to the sub-inspector at Barwala police station in March this year, seeking action against rampant selling of illicit liquor in his village. “Even after complaining to police and naming a bootlegger from Chokdi village who was manufacturing illicit liquor, no action followed for months. This tragedy could have been averted if the police were pro-active,” said Patel.

The hooch tragedies remind us of lessons of the past not learnt and action not taken when required. In 2009, hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad had claimed nearly 150 lives. The then Commission’s report had recommended keeping vigilance, keeping a close eye on storage and setting up proper arrangements for illegal trafficking of methanol. At that time, the BJP Government in a knee-jerk reaction to the hooch tragedy had made the Prohibition Act more stringent and added the provision of death penalty in cases of hooch tragedy. However, it hardly implemented the recommendations of the Justice Mehta Commission seriously.

Following the 2009 tragedy, the then Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court K.S. Radhakrishnan had taken Suo Motu cognizance of the liquor tragedy and at that time the Government had assured the Court of the strictest action. Thereafter in 2013, a High Court Bench comprising of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J. B. Pardiwala had given several directions and clearly said that it is the police machinery which should see that the provisions of the Prohibition Act are implemented strictly and effectively. It is almost impossible to find out whether these directions by the highest court of the land are seriously implemented.

In 2013, Gujarat had reported several deaths due to spurious liquor consumption. These tragedies expose the reality of ‘Dry’ Gujarat. The BJP Government has not taken any concrete steps to stop this liquor trade. Many activists have pointed out the nexus between bootleggers, police and the Bhartiya Janata Party politicians for non-implementation of the prohibition policy in the State. Intentional lack of monitoring of liquor production, consumption and transportation within the State definitely cannot be ruled out. Despite there being directions from the High Court, despite there being amendment in the Prohibition Law, despite there being a ban on sale of liquor, consumption of liquor, despite Gujarat being a dry State, liquor worth crores of rupees is being poured in Gujarat every day. Under the present ruling dispensation, liquor ban in Gujarat is only on paper. Liquor is freely available despite the prohibition ban in Gujarat - the hooch tragedies are a testimony. It clearly shows that it is a complete Governance failure and total inaction on the part of the ruling BJP. The glaring fact is that the connivance of the authorities of the ruling BJP and its political bosses cannot be ruled out.

The writer is Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha (Gujarat) (Based on Press Briefings)