2nd AUGUST 2015 DRY AREA CHANDRAPUR FLUSHED WITH MASS DAMAN LIQUORS-POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER HOOCH TRAGEDY IN MAHARASHTRA POSSIBLE
Chandrapur declared ‘alcohol-free,’ but illicit liquor poses challenge
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Ban on alcohol does not seem to have helped curb the drinking habit in two “dry” districts of Maharashtra. As Chandrapur in the Vidarbha region became the third “alcohol-free” district on Tuesday, Excise Department data show that the quantity of illicit liquor seized from the other two “dry” districts has increased successively in the past four years.
The Home Department has cautioned the government against imposing prohibition, citing inadequate manpower to stop the possible inflow of illicit liquor.
The Excise Department seized illicit liquor estimated at Rs. 2 crore from Wardha and Gadchiroli, two other dry districts, both in Vidarbha, in the past four years. More than 500 people have been arrested and 2,000 cases registered.
A report from the department has warned the government that “since alcohol is freely available in neighbouring areas [in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh], the possibility of illicit and adulterated liquor reaching Chandrapur cannot be dismissed.”
The Home Department, in its report, asked the government to consider banning alcohol in neighbouring Yavatmal and Nagpur and even in Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh to stop the inflow of illicit alcohol, for the successful implementation of the decision in Chandrapur.
Finance Minister and Guardian Minister of Chandrapur Sudhir Munguntiwar said he was ready to resign, had the Cabinet delayed the decision. He had declined to occupy his official residence till the time Chandrapur was declared a dry district.
“It was my promise to the people of my constituency and I have fulfilled it,” he said.
INDIA | 08:50 AM IST DEC 16, 2011
Maharashtra: hooch worth Rs 16 cr seized in 2011
Excise officials fear Mumbai may see spurious liquor flooding the market due to the high taxes on liquor.
Excise department busts country liquor duplication unit
Sunday, 26 July 2015 - 7:40am IST | Agency: dna | From the print edition
Nitin Ghule, superintendent, state excise, Dhule, who also holds charge of Nandurbar district, said based on a tip-off, a team comprising inspectors SA Pathak, DM Chakor and others raided a shut flat in a building at Shirpur in Dhule district on Thursday.
A month after the Malvani hooch tragedy, which claimed over 100 lives, the state excise department bust a country liquor duplication unit close to Maharashtra's borders with Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Nitin Ghule, superintendent, state excise, Dhule, who also holds charge of Nandurbar district, said based on a tip-off, a team comprising inspectors SA Pathak, DM Chakor and others raided a shut flat in a building at Shirpur in Dhule district on Thursday.
The raid unearthed 3,936 bottles of whiskey of 180ml each, 1,920 bottles of a popular country liquor brand measuring 180ml each, bottling machines, bottle caps and 400 litres of country liquor. An SUV with boxes of duplicate liquor was also seized. The total value of the seizure is Rs9.90 lakh. Ghule said they were on the lookout for the accused.
Maharashtra follows a policy of discouraging liquor consumption through high prices and low sales and has one of the highest excise duty regimes in India. This leads to the brew being smuggled in from neighbouring states and union territories with lower duties — Goa, Daman and Madhya Pradesh. Bootleggers and smugglers also use the state as a transit point while transporting liquor to dry Gujarat, which is under prohibition.
According to the state excise department's figures, wine sales rose by 14.83% in Maharashtra in 2014-15 to end at 58.05 lakh bulk litres as compared to 50.56 lakh bulk litres to the previous fiscal. Beer sales increased by 4.70% to 3,126.48 lakh bulk litres as against 2,986.09 lakh bulk litres in 2013-14, while the comparative figures for Indian Made Foreign Liquor were 1,737.18 lakh bulk litres compared to 1,615.06 (up by 7.56%). The rise in country liquor sales has been muted at just 3.31%, with the state consuming 3,323.34 lakh bulk litres in 2014-15 against 3,216.97 lakh bulk litres earlier. Three districts — Wardha, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur — are under prohibition.
In 2014-15, the state excise department lodged over 42,000 cases in bootlegging, smuggling, duplication and illegal sale and transport.
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