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A lengthy procedure awaits disposal of 60 lakh litres of liquor seized during the model code of conduct, which was imposed on January 8 ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab. It may take years to take these cases to a logical conclusion, before the seized liquor is disposed of safely.
Disposal of liquor, particularly “lahan”, is a serious environmental hazard as it has high BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) content that consumes atmospheric oxygen upon decomposing and suffocates aquatic organisms. Out of the total liquor seizures during the poll code, at least 40% confiscations were of “lahan” (raw material used to prepare illicit liquor).
Different teams of Punjab Police and excise and taxation department had made the seizures from across the state, with the total value pegged at ₹ 37 crore. The seized stocks have been stored at “malkhanas” (evidence room) in police stations. The quantity of total liquor seizures (60 lakh litres) can be gauged from the fact that 500-600 tankers are required to transfer this quantity, as each tanker has a capacity to hold 10,000-12,000 liters.
“We have to settle each and every case in court; only then the stocks will be released. For settling a case, most of which are registered under the Excise Act, eyewitnesses and seizure team members have to appear in court,” said an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI). At least 300 such cases were registered.
The official said that after settling these cases, the stocks of liquor and “lahan” will be handed over to the excise and taxation department for disposal. “Generally, liquor stocks are bought by distilleries for re-distillation and resold in market,” said an excise official privy to the system.
“Lahan” is produced by fermenting a mixture of water, jaggery, and other ingredients, but once it ferments, it contains alcohol and several other byproducts that are impure and poisonous. Even jaggery and its related products, such as molasses, are very harmful for aquatic life.
Commenting on its disposal, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) member secretary Krunesh Garg said that an advisory has been issued to the excise department for its proper disposal as the stocks can’t be dumped into water bodies as they have toxic chemicals that consume a lot of oxygen to discompose. Earlier it was a usual practice to dump “lahan” into rivers and canals or bury it in the soil by digging pits.
Gurpreet Singh Nibber is a special correspondent with the Punjab bureau. He covers agriculture, power sector, Sikh religious affairs and the Punjabi diaspora. ...view detail
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