KANPUR, March 10: Large-scale deaths in hooch tragedy in Bareilly district on Monday have exposed the nexus between law enforcers, excise department officials and manufacturers of illicit liquor in several parts of Uttar Pradesh. The illicit liquor industry is thriving while government agencies are doing little to curb the nefarious practice as a result of which cases of hooch tragedy continue to recur.Take the example of nearly 150 hamlets, situated within 10 km on the banks of the Ganga in Gangaghat town in Unnao district, around 20 kms from Kanpur. Illicit liquor is the sole source of income for inhabitants of these almost inaccessible villages on the banks of the holy river.Men, women and even children in the liquor belt here are experts in distillation and transportation of liquor but except ``routine raids'' and perfunctorily made appeals by local leaders, nothing concrete has been done to persuade locals to do away with the illegal profession.On an average, each of these villages has four tofive `bhattis', taking the collective production of illicit liquor to 600 bottles per day.The Lodhs, Pasis and mallahs (boatmen) have been brewing the liquor for the last 20 years. The production cost of each bottle is a paltry Rs 10 and is sold at a minimum rate of Rs 25 to 30 while a 200 gm pouch of the ``official'' country made liquor costs Rs 25. ``Our product is better than the country made liquor which can be corroborated from the evening rush in our selling outlets,'' says a resident of Behata village which tops in illicit liquor production.The ingredients? Rotten plastic, chappals and urea for an early kick besides a tinge of poisonous leaf known in local parlance as besharm ka patta. An overdose of this leaf makes the brew killer at times. Gone are the days when these people used earthen pots to ferment the mahua by burying them in sand for about a week.Whenever law enforcers have tried to conduct raids in these villages ,they have faced retaliation fromlocals. Sub-inspector Rai Singh and constable Jagdish were killed by bootleggers when they tried to ``infiltrate'' into Fatehpur Chaurasi village in 1992.``The police raids are a formality. No one can persuade villagers to stop producing illicit liquor because this is their only source of earning,'' says Chandrashekhar Awasthia, a local leader.
