Anantapur:ID liquor on rise in tribal areas

ANANTAPUR: The prohibition and excise department in the state is battling the alarming rise of ID liquor manufacturing and also the illicit transportation of cheap liquor from Karnataka, Goa and other areas. The Chief Minister’s stand to ban liquor is forcing the officials to concentrate on illicit distillation in tribal and hillock areas in the state.

The state government is keen on weeding out the belt shops in the villages though they are part of licensed liquor shops. The police had also intervened to weed out the belt shops soon after the YSRC government was voted to power and the new government policy was announced.

Anantapur sub-division police had seized belt shops in Anantapur and surrounding rural parts as part of their special drives.

Prohibition and excise department also succeeded in stopping the licensed shops from supplying duty paid liquor to the belt shops in the surrounding villages and also urban colonies.

Even as the departments concentrated on controlling the selling of duty paid liquor, ID liquor manufacturing has been on the rise in hillock areas and tribal parts in the state. Though, prohibition and excise department had plans to declare all districts in the state as ID liquor free, many districts including Anantapur are still unable to free themselves from illicit distillation of liquor. A former official who was in the excise task force has said that now there is a rise of ID liquor and stringent action is needed along with more awareness campaigns.

Previously, the licensed shops were unofficially concentrating against ID liquor in their jurisdictions by supplying duty paid liquor to belt shops. The ID liquor manufacturers illicit transportation from neighbouring states was being controlled by the belt shops. “We have to spare additional time to control ID liquor which was dangerous to the public health because the manufacturers use leather slippers, used torch cells and other dreadful chemicals to prepare ID liquor mostly in hill areas and tribal tandas,” a prohibition and excise official observed.

Madakasira police had destroyed ID liquor manufacturing units at Kothapalem in Rolla mandal in the district on Thursday. Circle inspector Devananad said that at least 450 litres of ID liquor was destroyed at the illicit distillation unit.

In addition, the departments were alerted over the possible rise of non duty paid liquor from other states. The Guntakal prohibition and excise police had busted a gang two years ago over the illicit transportation of spurious liquor of all major brands and also role of a ZP chairman from Kurnool district and his close relatives in connection with selling in Kurnool district. The manufacturing unit was set up near Goa and liquor was being transported beneath stacks of biscuits.