Ban black jaggery 8212; Excise

The Pune unit of State Excise Department had carried out raids on 2,041 dens brewing 8220;Hatbhatti8221; a form of illicit liquor most popular in Maharashtra while making 350 arrests in the last year, Ikhar said.

He pointed out that in most of the cases, it was observed that despite repeated raids the illicit liquor dens continued to operate. Both the State Excise Department and the local police had also identified certain areas in which hundreds of illicit liquor dens had flourished in clusters.

Among these areas were Parnakuti and Bhatnagar slums in Yerawada, secluded spots in Bavdhan and Pashan, Dhobalwadi and Mohammedwadi localities near Hadapsar as well as Bhatnagar slums in the twin city of Pimpri-chinchwad.

The illicit liquor den owners from these localities are operating in such a brazen manner that they even go to the extent of attacking the police and State Excise officials who attempt to crack down on their illegal distilleries, according to the officials.

Ikhar attributed the failure in curbing illicit liquor menace to the acute shortage of staff the State Excise Department and the local police were facing.

He said the Pune unit of the State Excise Department had a meager workforce of six Inspectors, 13 Sub Inspectors and 40 constables and a vast area of 15,643 sq kms to look after. The situation with the local police is also not different. Besides, Ikhar said, both the departments have manyfold duties to perform.

He said the staff was inadequate even to curb transporting of illicit liquors from the distilleries to various destinations in the city and its rural outskirts.

8220;The State Excise Department does not have any check post where vehicles plying on various roads could be checked. Moreover, even if the check posts are set up, we do not have staff required to man them. How are we supposed to curb illicit liquor menace in such circumstances,8221; he lamented.

The top boss of Pune unit of State Excise Department said the changing modus operandi adopted by bootleggers was also making it difficult to take action against the illicit liquor dens.

8220;Earlier, they used to distill liquor at night time. However, when we started conducting raids at late night, they started brewing liquor during broad daylight. Not a single person is found brewing liquor when we conduct raids at night these days. What we require is specific tip offs including details about the location of the den while illicit liquor is still being distilled there,8221; he said.

In a bid to tackle the problem, the State Excise Department was planning to form a special squad to gather intelligence. The special squad, which would be led by a Sub Inspector, is likely to start operating from May 1, he added.

The thousands of illicit liquor dens operating in various parts of the city, top police officials said, were posing major hazards to the lives of the consumers as well as the environment.

Many illicit liquor dens use drainage water to distill liquor which may prove injurious to the health of the consumer. At times, illicit liquor is adulterated with rat poison, extracts of poisonous herbs and powder of wall lizards for 8220;added effectiveness8221;, they added. Moreover, almost all the dens throw the waste in nearby streams, rivers, canals and reservoirs causing water pollution and affecting the environment, they added.