Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Seeks Use Of Drones & Dogs In Fight Against Illicit Liquor Causing Hooch Deaths

Alcohol sales and use were prohibited in 2016, months after Kumar made an election promise to women in the state who complained about the growth of booze stores and the public nuisance they generated.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has faced criticism for recurrent hooch disasters, now wants drones and trained dogs to discover illicit stashes of tipplers' joy in order to successfully enforce the prohibition legislation.

According to government sources, Kumar has requested authorities from the excise and prohibition department to investigate the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), sometimes known as drones in common parlance, dog squads, and motorboats against offenders of the prohibition legislation, PTI reported.

Alcohol sales and use were prohibited in April 2016, months after Kumar made an election promise to women in the state who complained about the growth of booze stores and the public nuisance they generated.

However, implementation of the prohibition has frequently been weak, and more than 50 people have died across the state since last December as a result of imbibing counterfeit booze, much to the state government's shame.

The Bihar government was left squirming in discomfort when the Supreme Court recently dismissed its appeals challenging the grant of anticipatory and regular bails to accused under the stringent liquor law, claiming that such cases have choked the courts and that 14-15 Patna high court judges are hearing such cases alone.

A bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana rejected the Bihar government's assertion that standards be developed to guarantee that reasoned bail rulings are issued, taking into consideration the amount of liquor confiscated from an accused.

"You know how much impact this law (The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 ) has created in the working of the Patna High Court and it is taking one year to get a matter listed there and all the courts are choked with the liquor bail matters," the chief justice was quoted by PTI in its report.

Outrage was also generated by police intervention in the aftermath of liquor catastrophes, as inexperienced officers ended up detaining tourists from neighbouring states and ransacking wedding sites.

Unfazed, the chief minister testily requested that individuals from other states refrain from visiting Bihar if they found the strict prohibition legislation uncomfortable.

He also called for the public shame of individuals seen selling or consuming booze, and an education department circular asked instructors to alert government authorities worried about law infractions.

The circular, however, was removed amid considerable condemnation of the government's plan, with several opposition figures claiming it would endanger the lives of teachers by inviting the fury of the booze mafia. The administration later said that the circular was "advisory."

At the meeting, Kumar asked staff to undertake a new poll to determine the number of persons who had stopped drinking, which was previously estimated to be 1.64 crore.

(With PTI Inputs)