India’s poisonous alcohol crisis is killing 56 people, according to the police

KALLAKURICHI: According to police, 56 individuals have died in India as a result of a batch of poisonous bootleg alcohol; 117 more are still in hospitals recovering from the fatal beverage.

A batch of locally produced “arrack,” which was laced with methanol, was drank by hundreds of people in the Kallakurichi region of Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India, last week.

Every year in India, inexpensive alcohol produced in shady distilleries claims hundreds of lives, but this poisoning is among the deadliest in recent memory.

Methanol, which can result in blindness, liver damage, and even death, is frequently added to spirits to improve its power.

According to top district police official Rajat Chaturvedi, “about 117 people are currently receiving medical treatment, and 56 people have died so far,” as reported by AFP.

Rival politicians in the state have pointed fingers at one another for the fatalities, and on Monday, local opposition leaders staged a demonstration near the scene of the disaster.

Although alcohol is not prohibited in Tamil Nadu, it is less expensive to buy alcohol on the black market than it is to buy it officially.

In numerous other regions of India, it is illegal to sell or consume alcohol, which fuels the booming underground market for strong and occasionally fatal moonshine.

Poisonous alcohol claimed the lives of at least 27 individuals in a single sitting in the eastern Indian state of Bihar last year, and at least 42 people in Gujarat in 2022.

According to Indian media, low-income labourers in the Kallakurichi district would habitually purchase alcohol in plastic bags for 60 rupees ($0.70), which they would then consume prior to going to work.

But this batch was disastrous. A few lost their vision, while others passed away in the street from collapsing before reaching the hospital.