Hooch kills at least 39 in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Most of the victims had gone to one of the Uttarakhand villages where they consumed the liquor. In Kushinagar, which comes under chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur division, the number of fatalities stood at nine.

Several officials were suspended in both states, with Uttar Pradesh taking action against seven excise and seven police officials.

A state government spokesperson said chief minister Adityanath had announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh each for the families of those dead and ₹50,000 each for those undergoing treatment.

The sale and consumption of hooch is a problem in rural districts across the country, as illegal brewers run fly-by-night operations to evade hefty levies and taxes.

The harm comes from methanol content, which can increase in liquor that is not brewed properly. Methanol is also added in trace amounts to increase the potency of liquor.

“We didn’t know that spurious liquor was being consumed which caused this tragedy. We will now support anti-liquor and liquor prohibition drives in the area as this incident has opened our eyes,” said Seth Ram, one of the villagers who was taken ill in Uttarakhand.