MP excise dept ‘dumps’ liquor in Narmada river

DHAR\BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh excise department allegedly dumped hundreds of litres of countrymade liquor into the Narmada river in Dhar district on Friday, drawing protests from locals and Opposition leaders who have called for action against the officials responsible.

The river, a major source of water in Madhya Pradesh, is considered holy and is worshipped as one of the seven sacred rivers in the country.

Excise officials refuted claims that liquor was dumped into the river, even as videos of the act did rounds on the social media.

“The liquor masala (additive) had been dumped in pits on the side of the Narmada. We are aware of the sanctity of the river and would never willingly make it impure,” Dhar assistant excise officer Sharad Chandra Nigam said.

Former Congress state spokesperson KK Mishra said action should be taken against the excise officials who made the river “impure”. “Illegal countrymade liquor is being produced in large scale along the banks of Narmada and the BJP government is doing nothing about it,” he said.

The excise department’s reported measure comes even as the BJP government has adopted a policy of not allowing liquor shops within 5km of the river bank. Plantation drives have also been carried out along the banks to keep the river clean.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had taken out a sixmonth Narmada Seva Yatra that ended in May 2017 in a bid to rejuvenate and control the levels of pollution in the river. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had also taken out a 3,300km Narmada Yatra on foot from October 2017, lasting six months.

Sources said the excise department had been receiving information that countrymade liquor was being produced illegally in villages along the banks of the river, following which the department carried out a series of raids in Manawar, Gandhwani, Kukshi and Dharampuri and seized 54 drums of country liquor ‘masala’.