Scenario of hooch tragedy in Gujarat state.

ABSTRACT

Currently, the Hooch Tragedy occurred in July 2009 at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, resulting in the death of 136 people from consumption of bootlegged liquor. This was the highest death toll in Gujarat from consuming moonshine since 1989 when 132 people had died in a matter of days in Vadodara. The number of patients admitted in the four hospitals of Ahmedabad-Civil Hospital, V.S. Hospital, LG Hospital and Shardaben Hospital had risen to 276 with nearly 100 needing observation either in ICUs or surgical wards. Embarrassed by the scale of the tragedy in a state where consumption and sale of liquor is officially banned, police swept through Gujarat in search of those, illegally selling home-made liquor. Gujarat is the country's only state where sale and consumption of liquor is banned in deference to Mahatma Gandhi, a Gujarati who was passionately opposed to liquor. This has led to a proliferation of illegal liquor dens, whose home-made brew is mostly consumed by those from low income families who can't afford high priced drinks available outside the state.