THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dhanesh, a daily wage worker, and his wife Seetha (names changed) were clueless about their future when the money Dhanesh had saved dried up during the lockdown.They racked their brains. Soon, the residents of Aryanadu — a village located at the foothills of Agasthyarkoodam in the Western Ghats which was infamous for brewing hooch — decided to use Dhanesh’s past experience of distilling alcohol from local ingredients for survival. The couple made arrangements in the bathroom and put to use the chemistry that Dhanesh had learnt from friends as a youth.

There were no initial hiccups and the couple earned a few bucks selling ‘vattu’, as the illegally distilled alcohol is known locally, to select customers. However, their luck ran out when, acting on a tipoff, an excise special team raided their house in the second week of April and nabbed them red-handed.

It is not just Dhanesh and Seetha who are indulging in such illegal activities during the Covid-19 lockdown. With the restrictions forcing a large number of people to stay at home without any income, many are trying to improve their finances by resorting to home brewing of liquor, an illegal act.The numbers say it all. Till April 20, the excise department registered 1,250 cases for illegal brewing since the lockdown was enforced, a 300 per cent increase than pre-lockdown figures. Excise officials said the scarcity of branded liquor led to the steep rise in illegal brewing. 

“With enforcement agencies blocking every possible way to obtain branded liquor, the demand for locally-brewed liquor increased exponentially. Though prices have gone up too, from `500 per bottle to `1,500-`2,000 during the lockdown, tipplers continue to buy liquor. Sustained action from the police and excise officials have also not worked,” said an official.

Over 1L litres of wash seized
The excise department also seized 1.13 lakh litre of wash, the alcoholic liquid which is distilled to obtain concentrated alcohol, during the lockdown so far. As per official data, 1.8 lakh litres to 2.5 lakh litres of wash is seized every year. “In less than a month, we seized wash equivalent to what is seized in a year. This shows illegal brewing is rampant,” said Additional Excise Commissioner (Enforcement) Sam Christy Daniel. Large-scale distillation is taking place in rural areas, while cities are registering small-scale brewing mostly for personal consumption. 

Excise CI (Nedumangad circle) S Vinod Kumar said brewing was mostly taking place in areas once known for it. “There are several people with previous experience of brewing alcohol. Many of them have taken it up again owing to the demand for liquor. It is also easy money for them,” said Vinod. He said the price of the distilled alcohol depended on its quality. Excise sources said alcohol flavoured using fruits, locally known as ‘veenju’, fetches over `2,500 per bottle. There are many who distil spirits for personal consumption. Since they prepare it inside their houses using pressure cooker and LPG, no one gets wind of it.

desperate tipplers

Though prices of bottles have gone up from D500 per bottle to D1,500-D2,000 during the lockdown, tipplers continue to buy liquor. Sustained action from police and excise officials have also not worked, according to an excise official

B2,500 per bottle is how much ‘Veenju’, the local name for alcohol made using fruits, now fetches, according to excise sources