Token prohibition takes a toll in Gujarat

The hooch tragedy that snuffed out 45 lives in Ahmedabad and Botad districts again lays bare the hollowness of the State prohibition law. While the affluent access premium alcohol through a time-tested network of bootleggers, the system leaves the underclass, with only the ₹20 pouch at its disposal, most vulnerable, reports Mahesh Langa

Jigar Dungrani, all of 27, has done alright in life so far. He owns more than 60 acres of farmland. He hails from a political family — his father, Dharmesh, heads the Barwala taluka unit of the Congress, mother Ranjanben is the leader of Opposition in the taluka panchayat. The young Patel himself is the sarpanch of Rojid village, 126 km away from Ahmedabad, on the highway to Bhavnagar. But Dungrani is going around with an incensed look these days. Rojid, a settlement of 3,500-odd people, is among the villages dotting Botad and Ahmedabad districts where an avoidable tragedy is unfolding. Twelve people have died here after drinking countrymade liquor or hooch laced with chemicals on the evening of July 25; the overall toll in half-a-dozen villages of rural Ahmedabad and Botad districts is 45 dead and counting; over 75 are still battling for their lives in various hospitals in Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar. 

In March this year, in a letter to the local police, Dungrani had warned about the easy access to liquor in the village. “I had repeatedly made representations to the police and revenue authorities about bootleggers having a free run of the village,” he said. Every time, the police would conduct a raid on bootleggers or local breweries.

“It’s like a fixed match between the cops and the bootleggers. On paper, the police would claim Rojid village is peopled by teetotallers but in reality, take a round in the evening and you would come across at least 50 persons completely drunk and roaming the village streets,” he said.

Rojid village, with a double-digit death toll, presents a picture of all-pervading grief and despair.

Rajubhai Virgama, 50, is sitting with a bunch of people in his house, mourning the death of his younger brother Dinesh. The deceased, a daily wager who used to work in the village farms owned by Patels or Patidars, the dominant caste in the village, has left behind a two-and-a-half-year-old boy. Dinesh’s wife left for another man when the boy was barely a year old.

“He bought a  potli (plastic pouch containing 250 ml liquor) and drank on Monday night (July 25). Next morning, he had to be taken to Bhavnagar hospital where he died within a few hours,” said Rajubhai, who is deputy sarpanch of the village and runs a grocery shop.

“ Potli culture has destroyed us. Those who died are extremely poor, landless labourers who used to work as daily wagers in the farms. They have no other source of livelihood,” said 60-year-old Maganbhai Parmar, whose nephew Shanti Parmar, 50, was also among the casualties.