The unnecessary use of methyl alcohol used in many industries and the use of ethyl alcohol by-products used in making liquor is, in fact, the main source for the production of poisonous liquor. The excise department of UP has failed to make any proper strategy to stop its improper use till date. The excise department and the industry department are not having any joint strategy in this regard and due to this the traders of raw liquor are reaping the benefits. Even after hundreds of deaths due to poisonous liquor in Kushinagar and Saharanpur in February this year, Excise Department did not pay any attention to this. According to an officer related to the enforcement unit of the excise department, after the scandal, the investigation report of the SIT probe has been handed over to the government. According to the official, in the SIT probe report, the reason behind the death is the liquor made from the methyl chemical which is being transported in tankers from the neighboring states.
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Significantly, methyl alcohol is a deadly chemical used in the industries. It is poisonous. It is used in textile mills and other industries. According to sources, the cases of misuse of chemicals coming from Gujarat in tankers are not often caught as the drivers while passing through the U.P sell this chemical to the villagers. Since ethyl alcohol which is used in the manufacturing of liquor and the by product which is juicy and odorless, the toxic chemicals are considered as ethyl alcohol.
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It is worth mentioning here that this by product in Noida, Greater Noida, Firozabad, Varanasi is used in the local industries, such as in Varanasi Zari industry and in glass industry of Firozabad. It is also consumed in some IT companies in Noida and Greater Noida. According to the sources, the villagers get this from the drivers of the tankers and then make illegal country liquor from it. Drinking it often leads to death. In order to diffrentiate between ethyl and methyl alcohol, the UP government had made provision to change methyl alcohol to light blue colour. But industrial units filed a plea in the Supreme Court against this decision of the state government. They argued that by mixing colors, they are unable to use it properly in their industries. On this basis, the Supreme Court canceled the notification issued by the state government in this regard. After that it is no longer possible to differentiate between ethyl and methyl alcohol.
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Saharanpur is adjacent to Uttarakhand. The consumption of raw liquor in districts adjacent to Uttarakhand has been practiced for a long time. Bhagwanpur is industrial area of Uttarakhand . Thousands of workers from the Saharanpur border of UP go to Bhagwanpur to do daily work. In Uttarakhand, raw liquor is available at low prices and sells openly in the villages of Balupur and Bindu Kheda. Likewise, raw liquor is available at Varanasi to Mirzapur Road and it is been available for years now. Note that if serious investigation is conducted then only five to six districts of UP are such where there is often news of deaths due to poisonous liquor. In the neighborhood of Lucknow, Unnao is an industrial city, in the neighborhood of Saharanpur, Bhagwanpur industrial area of Uttarakhand is located. Likewise, Varanasi itself has Mirzapur and Sonbhadra industrial areas and the border of Kushinagar has Nepal and Bihar border. Despite Noida and Greater Noida being Industrial Area, the villages are still inhabited in these areas.