Day 3 of Assam hooch tragedy: Toll touches 143

Guwahati: The death toll in Golaghat and Jorhat districts rose to 143 in three days as Assam faced its worst hooch tragedy ever, triggering demands for banning the illicit liquor trade.

The state has more than 850 big tea estates and hundreds of thousands of small tea gardens that provide livelihood to four million people. Every year tea workers in different areas die after consuming spurious liquor. On Sunday, an irate mob shouted slogans against the state excise minister saying “Parimal Suklabaidya go back” when he visited a hospital in Upper Assam. After the recent hooch tragedy in Uttar Pradesh, the excise department in Assam asked its officers in districts to dismantle illicit breweries.

“We will have to do something drastic, for despite this tragedy, consumption of spurious liquor is still on. I saw this myself on Saturday,” said a senior Assam government minister, who did not wish to be identified.


According to the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangh (ACMS), the largest trade union of tea garden workers, consumption of illicit liquor leads to fatalities of tea workers almost every year.

ACMS general secretary Rupesh Gowala told ET, “Red molasses, old sleepers, tobacco and acid from battery are used to increase the rate of fermentation.”

Red molasses is brought to the state as cattle feed, said Gowala. “We will launch a massive awareness exercise in tea estates in the state. The excise department has shown lackadaisical attitude, which has led to a spurt in illicit liquor consumption. We will soon start destroying illicit liquor brewing places.”

Assam minister for labour and employment, Pallab Lochan Das, said that his department had earlier written to tea garden management to ensure that there is no illicit liquor shop in their area. “We have even asked the excise department to ensure that in tea garden markets sale of spurious liquor is checked,” he said.

Peasant organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which advocates total prohibition barring indigenous or traditional liquor, alleged that ahead of the panchayat election in December last year consumption of illicit liquor increased tremendously.

KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said, “During panchayat election consumption of such liquor increased manifold in tea garden areas.”