Social Evil: Poisonous Alcohol Consumption among people of Rural India.

From the past many years India has become a country where large number of social levels are observed especially at the rural regions of India where people are influenced by various social evils such as

1. consumption of alcohol,

2. dowry system,

3. casteism,

4. no education for girls,

4. domestic violence,

5.female infanticide etc

This blog will aim to figure out the main social evil called Alcohol consumption and also find ways through which such kind of evil can be dealt with.

To begin with, Let’s first understand what can alcohol do especially the alcohol which is altered by disastrous substances in order to deteriorate individuals health.

The reality of toxic alcohol: urea and oxytocin are added to make native liquor intoxicating, it becomes toxic

Is alcohol too toxic?

Why do people drink alcohol when it is toxic?

And why is this alcohol sold when it is deadly? Let us know its truth.

How does alcohol become toxic?
Raw alcohol becomes toxic when chemicals are added to make it more intoxicating. In order to make desi wine, lahan is first prepared from jaggery, surokhar and then it is pressed into the clay. It is mixed with urea, baserambal and oxytocin to make it more intoxicating. This same mixture causes death.

Why does alcohol cause death?
DM Cardiologist of AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr. According to Sanjay Chugh, adding ammonium nitrate (urea) and oxytocin to domestic liquor makes methanol (methyl alcohol). This later leads to death.

Excessive amounts of methanol make alcohol toxic. Methanol then when formalized in the body forms formaldehyde and then becomes formic acid, which is a toxin. This first affects the brain and the eye as it enters the body. Then other parts of the body stop working and the person dies.

How much methanol is dangerous?
A dose of 15 to 500 ml kills a person.

Risk of impotence with oxytocin
Oxytocin is added to make native liquor more intoxicating. The study found that oxytocin increased the risk of impotence and diseases associated with the nervous system. Taking oxytocin causes inflammation in the eyes and stomach. Eyesight can also go away.

One of the example, which demonstrates catastrophic causes of it, Recently, 24 people died in Murree district of Madhya Pradesh due to drinking poisonous liquor. A few days ago, 5 people were killed in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. These are events that have happened recently and we remember. Many such incidents occur every year, hundreds of lives are lost, thousands of people fall ill.

In West Champaran, Bihar, a man was found dead after drinking poisonous liquor. So far, 16 people have died from alcohol poisoning, while 4 have lost their sight. Police are investigating the matter. In Bihar, the government has banned the consumption and production of alcohol. But there are constant allegations of black marketing of liquor in the state.

Among those who have lost their sight is 40-year-old Mohammad Izhar, a resident of Derwa village under Lauria police station. Izhar says he drank alcohol in a distillery outside the village earlier this week. After which his health deteriorated a lot and then his eyesight also went away. Nothing is visible after drinking alcohol

Not only is alcohol being sold, there have been eight major scandals since 1976. When methanol is added to a poisonous liquor to make it intoxicating, the alcohol becomes toxic and the drinkers start to die.

Gujarat may be a model state for stricter alcohol laws in the country, but the drug trade is as flourishing here as in other states of the country. Gujarat police seize an average of 18,916 liters of Indian-made foreign liquor every day while 13 persons are caught consuming liquor consignment every hour.

Illicit illegal desi liquor, being the cheapest alcohol in India, is the mainstay alcoholic beverage for the village population and urban poor. Illicit illegal Desi liquor is less commonly consumed for “social” purposes, it is more commonly consumed for the purpose of quick intoxication. In rural areas, illicit desi daru has been blamed for domestic violence and poverty in the family. There have been several protests against illegal desi liquor shops/bars in villages. (Source ~ Wikipedia)

A typical variety of moonshine in northern India might be fermented from molasses or mahua, a type of flower, and spiked with additives like ammonium chloride, lye, or even battery acid to increase strength or speed fermentation.

“When they want to increase the alcohol content and potency, they might add sedatives, urea, oxytocin, or methyl alcohol,” Rajput said.

These materials are widely accessible in India despite their danger to humans. Urea, a nitrogen-containing compound in urine, is the most common fertilizer in rural areas. The hormone oxytocin, which is misused to spur milk production in cows and buffalo, is readily found in local markets despite being banned. Methyl alcohol, or methanol, is used in industrial products like antifreeze and fuel.

Such evil not only provide hinderance in individuals life but also the family or society they live in. The problems like social issues as well as domestic violence are also affiliated to this. Most frequently people end up losing all of theirs money and even going in debt.

One of the primary reason why most of the Rural regions are victim of poverty is Consumption of alcohol. Because this along with deteriorating health it also destroys economic lifestyle. This is because of the substances involved in making such drink which results in damaging physical and mental ability to perform any task or to even think on any task.

What is the treatment for people who drink toxic alcohol?
The special thing is that the treatment of toxic alcohol is also alcohol (ethanol), said Dr. Chugh. Formipizole is also effective. The treatment of methanol poisoning is ethanol. Toxic alcohol is also found in tablets as an antidote, but its availability in India is very low.

People who drink toxic alcohol need to be hospitalized immediately. The patient then has to undergo dialysis to get the toxins out of the body.

The patient receives only supportive treatment. E.g., equalizing oxytocin and giving antidotes to methanol alcohol. Often a stomach wash is also helpful, but to no avail if it is delayed.

However, apart from medical aid that can be offered by doctors to the victims, in order to prevent such scandals duty of government to impose rigorous laws on such group of people so that on a long run this cannot be the reason of poverty and devastation among rural areas.

The Gujarat government on Tuesday notified rules for the new stringent prohibition law with provision of up to ten years jail for manufacturing, purchase, sale and transportation of liquor in the dry state.

The Gujarat Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was passed by the state Assembly in February this year and subsequently became an Act in March after the state governor O P Kohli gave his assent.

As per the rules issued today for the Act, the state government would constitute a monitoring cell to enforce the liquor ban in the state, a government release said.

Moreover, teachers who teach at the schools situated in rural region also show their duties towards such children by following ways:

By organising extra classes for weak students and meeting parents at least twice a week, the teachers should doing everything they can to cultivate an interest in students.

If bringing the students to class was not hard work enough, teachers of those schools should indulge in creating a fun-filled environment in the class as well. From races to yoga to even teaching them through songs.

If such laws are actually implemented than this can be stopped up to a great extent.