New Delhi: Various news reports are saying that the consumption of spurious liquor has so far claimed at least 36 lives in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The analysis of ten year data on hooch deaths reveals some shocking numbers. Between 2006 and 2015- the year for which latest data is available, consumption of spurious liquor has claimed 11,830 lives in the country. On an average 1,183 people have died every year because of this menace. On daily basis it translates into 3 deaths every day.

The analysis of deaths over the years shows that in 2006 the number of deaths was 685 which was less than half of the deaths reported in 2015. The data also shows that there are only three years when less than a thousand people died by consuming poisonous liquor. Apart from 2006 the number of deaths was 731 in 2012 and 497 in 2013. Interestingly the causality figures more than tripled in 2014 when 1,699 people lost their lives.

Gender wise analysis of the data shows that more than 9,000 of those who died where men while there were 2,490 female fatalities which was 21% of the total deaths. Among states Tamil Nadu reported highest deaths during this period as 1,456 people died in the Southern state. Tamil Nadu was followed by Karnataka, Punjab and West Bengal- each reporting more than 1000 deaths. In terms of total fatalities Gujarat was the fifth worst state reporting 821 deaths. The total fatalities for these five states were 5,945 deaths which was more than 50% of the overall deaths reported across the country.

Uttar Pradesh is ranked sixth in this list. Along with Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar the state has also reported more than 500 deaths. The death toll was only 38 for Uttarakhand. There were two states and one UT that reported no deaths by consumption of spurious liquor during this period. These are Lakshadweep, Manipur and Sikkim. Apart from this there are six states and UTs that reported less than 10 deaths. This includes Goa, Daman and Diu, Meghalaya and so on.

Market research bodies estimate that India has the world‘s third largest liquor market and it is among the world’s fastest growing. Alcohol industry says that restrictive government policy and high taxes have led to the creation of spurious liquor market in the country. Many countries impose taxes based on alcohol content while in India taxes are imposed on the volume rather than alcohol content. Because of lower taxes on liquor with lower alcohol content the prices of beer and so on are much less in many countries. It has been observed that lower prices on liquor with lesser alcohol many times discourage people from consuming hard liquor. It is difficult to estimate the illegal liquor market size but various estimates suggests that it could be worth Rs lakhs of Crore. This revenue could have been added to state’s kitty and many lives could have been saved if states had addressed this menace.
Worst five states - deaths

Tamil Nadu - 1456
Karnataka - 1373
Punjab - 1219
West Bengal - 1076
Gujarat - 821

Year-wise deaths

2006  - 685
2007 - 1251
2008 - 1358
2009 - 1458
2010 - 1202
2011 - 1435
2012 - 731
2013 - 497
2014 - 1699
2015 - 1522

(Grand Total - 11830)