Uttarakhand-up hooch tragedy leaves 72 dead

HARIDWAR/ SAHARANPUR: The death toll in the hooch tragedy that hit two adjoining districts in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh has risen to 72 with more people dying of the spurious liquor they drank at a Haridwar village, officials said Saturday. The viscera examination on 11 more bodies is yet to be conducted to find out if these too were alcoholrelated deaths.

Twenty-four of the victims died in Balupur and its neighbouring villages in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, state's Additional Director General (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said. At least 46 others, who had come home to the adjoining Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh after drinking the spurious liquor in Balupur, are also dead.

Uttar Pradesh officials said 35 of the Saharanpur deaths took place in the district itself. Eleven other victims, who were referred from Saharanpur for medical treatment in Meerut, died at a hospital there. In Uttarakhand, about 20 more people are still under treatment.

Most of the victims had consumed the liquor after the tehravin, the 13th day of mourning ritual, following a relative's death in Balupur, officials said. Uttar Pradesh police, however, added that a Saharanpur district resident may have brought 30 pouches of the same liquor from Uttarakhand for sale back home.

This may have led to more casualties, official said, but the investigation into this is still on. Both states have suspended administrative and police officials for alleged negligence and ordered probes.

They have also announced exgratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed. Earlier, Saharanpur district magistrate Alok Pandey said people from Nangal and adjoining villages in his district had started falling ill when they returned home from Balupur.

Many of the Saharanpur victims were not immediately admitted to hospital as the area was hit by rain and a hailstorm, he said. Up to late Friday night, 16 people had died in Haridwar and 18 more in Saharanpur. By Saturday afternoon, the combined death too had risen to 72.

In Dehradun former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat slammed the ruling BJP government over the hooch tragedy, saying it occurred due to "carelessness" of the state excise department.

He said that proper arrangements were not made for the treatment of people who were critical after the incident. "They should be referred to higher centres for proper treatment," Rawat said. He alleged that Uttarakhand is becoming the hub of manufacturing illicit liquor and these units have the support from some quarters.