Bhubaneshwar: As many as 231 people died after consuming spurious liquor in Odisha in 27 years between 1992 and 2019, Excise Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed the assembly on Saturday.
In a written reply to a question by Congress legislator Nilamadhab Hikaka, the minister said the highest number of 134 people died after consuming liquor in Cuttack district in 1992. He said 41 people from Tukulipada in the then Bhubaneswar and Cuttack district lost their lives after drinking such liquor in 2012.
The minister said spurious liquor also claimed 20 lives in Puri in 2001, 19 in Ganjam district in 2006, ten (three in Khurda and seven in Bolangir) in 2009 and seven in Bhadrak district in 2019. Harichandan said the government, at present, has no proposal to provide relief and rehabilitation to people falling ill due to liquor consumption and those addicted to liquor.
A total of 433 domestic liquor shops (Mahua) are operating in Odisha and the government has collected Rs 227 crore in revenue from such outlets during the current financial year, which is 9 per cent of the total revenue collected from liquor sales in the state, he claimed.
The government has given licences to 490 liquor depots in the country for the production of pouches and around 23 million litres of Mahua liquor produced in Odisha during 2023-24. Meanwhile, the number of casualties due to the alleged liquor tragedy in Chikiti area of Ganjam district has risen to three after another person died on Saturday morning. This issue was raised by BJD chief Pramila Mallik during the zero hour. Mallik demanded the resignation of the Excise Minister on moral grounds. She also sought a statement from the government in the Assembly.