Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy: Kallakurichi, where illicit arrack flows like water

CHENNAI: Smoke from burning funeral pyres engulfed Karunapuram in Kallakurichi town limits on Thursday evening as victims of the killer brew were cremated. There is a death in a house every 200m or 300m in the locality, which is within a km of the district court complex. In fact, there’s a police station barely 100 metres from the area where illicit arrack is sold.
“Most of the victims are daily wage workers. They were breadwinners of their families, which will now struggle to make ends meet. Illicit arrack flows freely round the clock in the locality. The daily wage workers consume illicit arrack sold in the locality as early as 4am every day before going to work. This has been going on for years and the district authorities have turned a blind eye to the issue,” said M Murugesan, 48, from Karunapuram.

Residents say people who consumed illicit arrack on Tuesday and Wednesday alone complained of giddiness, headache, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and irritation in the eyes. A few complained of loss of vision or blurred vision in one or both eyes. “The entire locality is grieving over the loss of these poor people who had taken to drinking at a young age and became addicted over time,” said P Kalyanasundaram, 47, a daily wage worker from Karunapuram.
At the Salem GH, S Selvaraj, a truck driver from Yeliyathur in Kallakurichi district, who had brought his nephew Shankar, 38, for treatment, said the hooch makers of Kallakurichi and Villupuram districts procure methanol from truck drivers at lower prices to mix with arrack. Trucks carrying methanol often line up on the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry border to sell as there’s no one to monitor them.
G Murugadass said his brother G Balu usually buys liquor from Tasmac. But on Wednesday, around 4 am, Babu and a friend drank hooch before heading to work on a farm. Murugadass said illicit liquor is easily available near Kallakurichi district court. “There is also a police station 100m away. But none took any action to prevent the sale of illicit liquor,” he said. P Manikandan said his 60-year-old uncle Muthu had lost his vision and was on ventilator support. “His son and daughter are married and settled in different towns. I don’t know how he is going to manage now,” Manikandan said.