Bhubaneswar: Odisha is staring at a tragedy of a different kind due to the belief that consumption of alcohol will prevent getting infected by the deadly coronavirus. In the process many are consuming illicit liquor, including hooch. If this trend continues, then the tragedy that happened recently in Iran is very much on the cards here. In the Islamic Republic more than 300 people died last week after consuming industrial alcohol thinking that such a move will help prevent an attack of COVID-19.
All wine shops in Odisha have downed shutters since the imposition of lockdown. But the sale of liquor is continuing unabated in the black market. Those who can afford the prices are buying good brands, but those that cannot are turning to country-made hooch.
Cashing in on this demand distilleries have sprung up in several slums, colonies and deserted localities in the capital city. Distilleries have come up in two slums of Unit-VI and some areas of Ganganagar, Dumduma, Salia Sahi and Niladri Vihar.
Sources said that these distilleries are preparing huge quantities of hooch. To give it a different test, ‘sedative’ medicines are being added to it. The finished product is then being transported to different parts of the capital city in the guise of distribution of ‘essential commodities’. As police are busy in implementing the lockdown in a strict manner, they are yet to get an inkling of the clandestine hooch operations going on under their very noses.
Those addictive to liquor are going out of their way to procure their daily quotas. And the hooch sellers are making a killing in the process. A nip bottle is being sold for 250 to Rs 350 while a 750ml bottle costs anything between Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200.
But the catch lies elsewhere. The hooch traders are also selling the spurious material in bottles of branded companies fleecing the customers in the process. Somebody looking for decent brand will have to shell out anything between Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 only to find later that he has been duped.
It is important to note here that the hooch is being laced with sedatives, which is indeed dangerous. Hence people should be aware of what they are buying.
PNN