PALAKKAD: In spite of the many beer and wine parlours, there is a spurt in the sale of toddy due to the closure of bars in the state. “We had a meeting of field inspectors of the Excise Department in Ernakulam yesterday and as per the reports from the field, the sale of toddy has doubled and tripled in many shops. In some districts, the stock of toddy gets depleted by 5 pm,” said assistant excise commissioner (Intelligence) Jayanthi Vasan.
“However, as the production is mainly confined to Chittur in the district, the possibility of contractors resorting to adulterating it to mint money also cannot be ruled out,” said the chairman of the Kerala State Abkari Workers Welfare Fund Board N Azhakesan. He said that most of the toddy shops had closed in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Kollam due to the fact that by the time the toddy from Chittur in Palakkad district reaches the southern districts, it turns sour. Moreover, there is a serious shortage of tappers in these districts. This problem can be solved only if the government steps in to train people to tap coconut trees just as Neera.”
The Excise department authorities from Palakkad had suggested to the government that the extra production of toddy from Chittur taluk, if any, should be allowed to be transported to other districts by collecting the Rs 1 duty per litre stipulated as per the Abkari act. However, the government is yet to take a decision on it. Therefore, the contractors are forced to destroy the toddy over and above their permitted quota. By allowing the transport of excess production to other districts, the menace of adulteration can be checked to some extent.
Under the Abkari Act, permits are issued twice a year in April and October. A total of 1,70,000 coconut trees are being tapped in Chittur taluk, mostly by Tamil workers due to the shortage of Malayali hands. Around 2.5 lakh litres of toddy are being tapped daily and transported outside. The Deputy Commissioner of Excise here has issued 750 inter-district permits and 250 domestic permits to the contractors. There are two Excise check posts in Parli and Alathur which inspect and allot the permissible limit of toddy to be transported to other districts.
Sources from the Excise department point out that there are 5,213 toddy shops in the state and even if 4,500 of those which function sell 100 litres of toddy per day, the required quantity amounts to 4.50 lakh litres per day. However, only 2.5 lakh litres are being transported from here which raises the suspicion that illicit manufacture is rampant in this sector. I
It is reported that 8 litres of spirit can be added to 200 litres of toddy and industry sources say it is the right mix. The permissible alcohol content in toddy is 8.1. The festival season and the closure of bars has seen a spurt in sales, say officials of the Excise department.
The Excise intelligence personnel in civilian clothes are keeping an eye on all inter-state buses at Kanjikode and other places to check for illegal transportation of liquor. They feel that there will not be much of a flow into Kerala as under Section 58 of the Abkari Act, if a person is nabbed with bottles sporting the seal of the neighbouring states he could be sentenced to ten years behind bars. There is a difference in the price of IMFL vis a vis the neighbouring states, as in Kerala the Excise duty and sales tax for IMFL constitute 158 per cent and 135 per cent, while it is under 100 per cent in Tamil Nadu.