Ahead of the New Year celebrations, the flying squad of the Excise Department in Pune intercepted and seized illegal liquor worth around Rs 82 lakhs trafficked from Goa. Earlier this month, a Hyderabad-bound KTC bus was found to be illegally transporting 70 bottles of various brands of alcohol. Ahead of Christmas festivity, an excise squad in Belagavi seized a truck illegally transporting 600 liquor boxes from Goa. Surprisingly, these boxes had some unknown whiskey brands which the Belgavi police said were illegally produced in Goa.
The moot question here is about huge quantities of liquor being shipped out of Goa time and again, hoodwinking the Excise Department and those manning checkpoints at the borders. Goa is known the world over as a liquor destination with the State’s tourism being driven by booze, beaches and entertainment. Tourists flock to this tiny State because alcohol is freely available at a much cheaper price, and bulk quantities are being transported to other states because there is a ready market.
Call it sheer manipulation of the system or a completely corroded system, the bulk shipment of illegal liquor to other states only points to a complete failure of the Excise Department and the police force. At the vendor level, the wholesalers may have bulk sale restrictions, but by raising multiple bills they still can conduct a bulk sale. It’s a trick of the trade that has been used to bypass systems.
When 600 or more illegal cases are seized outside Goa it points to the fact that the entire system has colluded. In normal courses, legal production of liquor means there is a batch number, licence number, manufacture date and other details mentioned on the product. Moreover, as per law, there is one excise inspector posted at every factory. And yet there is mass illegal production.
If the Excise Department was serious about cleansing the system, it could have done so by collaborating with these seizures and tracking these illegal units. While neighbouring states soak in the news of seizing consignments from Goa, the tourism State earns a bad name for being a source of this illegality. Furthermore, the most astonishing part is that such huge shipments have been confidently making their way past the borders, no questions asked.
There is more to this. While illegally made liquor could be spurious in the absence of licensing and other quality controls, there is also a massive loss to the State in terms of revenue, and it is all happening in broad daylight.
Sadly, there have been many vehicles intercepted in neighbouring states, and illegal liquor continues to be seized with Goa as a source, but till now there has been no word spoken on illegal production in the State and nothing has moved in that direction. Those entrusted with checks and balances seem to be on a ‘happy high’ following a ‘live and let live’ policy and allowing illegalities to flourish.
It’s high time the Excise Department woke up from its slumber and cracked down on all those units producing liquor illegally. The liquor business has always been thriving in Goa, the Excise Department must ensure that it does not spiral out of control.
