The tragic death of more than 10 persons in Tuensang after consuming alcohol has sparked a renewed debate on the relevance of the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act.
The tragic death of more than 10 persons in Tuensang last week, reportedly after consuming alcohol, has sent shock waves across the state, prompting the Excise & Prohibition department to issue a statewide public advisory urging people to exercise “utmost caution” and “strictly refrain” from consuming liquor. According to preliminary findings by the police, most of the victims developed similar symptoms, including blurred vision, severe headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting after taking liquor. The law enforcement agency said the cause of the deaths is yet to be established, as an investigation is still ongoing, but suspicion has fallen on adulterated alcohol. The exact cause of the tragedy may never be known, as Naga society usually avoids post-mortems, a specialised medical examination conducted in cases of unnatural death to determine the cause. Prima facie, the incident appears to be a case of consumption of spurious liquor, which is not uncommon in India, particularly in the so-called dry states like Nagaland. In April this year, at least six people died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in “dry” Bihar, more than three years after a similar incident claimed the lives of over 70 people in the state. Most recently, more than a dozen people died as a spurious liquor outbreak hit several villages in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month. The recurrence of hooch tragedies highlights weak enforcement, corruption, and regulatory gaps. As alcohol regulation is a state subject, blame naturally falls on respective states for any lapses in implementation.
The Tuensang incident has sparked a renewed debate on the relevance of the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act of 1989, which prohibits the production, possession, sale, consumption, and import and export of liquor in the state. The government had earlier mooted the idea of partially lifting the ban, but without success, chiefly due to the possible backlash from church organisations. Several civil society organisations have also expressed the need to review the legislation, which has failed the state for over three decades, and replace it with a more practical approach, but it met with the same fate. The call to review the NLTP Act has once again gained momentum in the wake of the tragedy in Tuensang. This deserves serious consideration for the simple reason that total prohibition of alcohol has proved to be a farce. The prohibition has failed because demand for liquor persists, and as long as there is demand, there will be supply. Instead of curbing consumption, prohibition forces the production, sale, and supply of alcohol underground to meet existing demand. And when a market operates covertly, quality is often compromised, leading to public health risks. Bootleggers often adulterate alcohol with cheap chemicals like methanol, which is harmful to humans. Some hooch takes immediate effect, while others kill consumers silently and slowly—it’s just a matter of time.