Haryana Govt yet to check "doubtful" liquor

“Earlier we used to do 13 chemical tests but the number of tests was reduced to four during prohibition as the basic objective then was to ascertain the presence of alcohol,” said atechnician. The government had reduced the number of chemical tests to four to ease the piling stocks of confiscated liquor. But with prohibition gone, the system had to be fine tuned again.

“For testing the quality of liquor, the chemical analyst has to check for any poisonous ingredient, colour, alcoholic strength, or any metallic substance. During prohibition mere testing for identification of alcoholic strength, aroma, methyl alcohol, and pyridine tests were adequate,” explained an excise official.

The excise officials have been receiving complaints about liquor quality. Last week, a local resident bought a bottle of beer and to his great horror found it to be blue. The bottle was handed over to the excise department who later called a representative of the company.

Tipplers in Gurgaon have been complaining of uneasiness, nausea, and bodyache after consuming liquor bought from local vends. “I doubt that there is some adulteration in the liquor sold here,” said Mahender Singh, a local employee.The excise officials say that since at times bottles are not properly cleaned the liquor gets contaminated.

“Since the distilleries and breweries were under pressure to meet our requirements, the possibility of `inadequately’ cleaned bottles leading to adulteration is possible,” said an excise official. Officials admit that complaints of contamination in country liquor were more than in IMFL.

Unless the excise department quickly issues guidelines for chemical tests, it would be next to impossible to get the real picture, said an official.