The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Liquor flows freely on Cooum bed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 15, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Liquor flows freely on Cooum bed

J. Malarvizhi

Adigathur villagers allege sale of illicit stuff by people from neighbouring village

HARASSED LOT: Women from Adigathur village, near Tiruvallur, narrate the problems they are facing due to the sale of illicit liquor by residents of the adjacent Kadambathur village. — PHOTO: R. RAGU

CHENNAI: The women of Adigathur village, near Tiruvallur, are quite sure that the wine shop is a lesser evil.

"With people from the adjacent village of Kadambathur selling illicit liquor on the banks of the river Cooum, some men are drunk from morning," says Poongodi, a resident.

The wine shop was marginally better: the men drank once in a few days and the threat of death was not immediate, several women agree.

Adigathur, about 50 km from Chennai, has a population of about 3,000 people, mostly agricultural labourers. A small Irula community lives in the panchayat limits. The village gained roads and with them better access to Tiruvallur town only in the last decade.

The dry bed of the Cooum river marks the boundary between Adigathur and Kadambathur villages. "In fact, it comes under Kadambathur panchayat limits. That is why some people are selling illicit liquor there with impunity; their panchayat president is not likely to ask questions," said Chidambaranathan, president of Adigathur panchayat.

Kadambathur residents have brewed liquor in Adigathur limits before, but they were chased away.

In the past couple of months, they have started selling liquor packets.

Children scared

Children are scared in their own village limits, he said. The nearest government high school is at Kadambathur. Children have to cross the riverbed near the point where the liquor is sold, said women of the self-help groups.

Several girls have stopped going to school, fearing the groups of drunk men they are likely to encounter on their way. These women used to take the same path to go to the market even late in the evening.

They now prefer to go to Manavalan Nagar, which is further down.

Cheap liquor

Men from surrounding villages were beginning to frequent the area to buy illicit liquor, which is several times cheaper than the alcohol available in government-run wine shops.

There has been tension between the villages over the issue. Children were temporarily withdrawn from school and all contact between the villages suspended for a while a few years ago.

With the sale of illicit liquor resuming, the women are afraid that direct confrontations would lead to a similar situation. An outside authority should intervene to stop the sale of illicit liquor, they say.

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