‘Miracles do happen, waiting for mine’: Reports of alcohol in taps leave Twitter gasping

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, February 5

Reports of alcohol in the taps in a village in Kerala has Twitter in splits.  

One morning, 18 families of Solomon’s Avenue Flat from Chalakudy in Kerala’s Thrissur district, turned on their taps to discover that water was laced with alcohol.

According to a Manorama article, the inhabitants complained of the water smelling and tasting like liquor.

Tracing the problem back to its root, it would seem that liquor seized from a nearby bar about six-years-ago, had recently been disposed-off by officials.

In order to dispose of around 6,000 litres of liquor a huge pit had to be dug in the area. The seized alcohol was then poured into it.

Reportedly, the task took about six hours.

The pit was close to the well of the flat premises, and the alcohol appears to have seeped through the soil and made its way to the water.

According to New Indian Express, the issue was first addressed by Joshy Maliyekkal, the owner of a nearby apartment complex.

He turned on the motor to fill his water tank. He became suspicious after a bad smell began to emanate from the pipe.

The locals approached the Chalakudy municipality, following which health officials conducted an examination.

“The inspection proved the presence of alcohol in the water, and hence we called the excise officials and informed them of the matter,” the publication quoted ward Councillor V G Joji as saying.

Deputy Excise Commissioner T K Sanu added that carelessness while disposing of the liquor had led to the situation. He said that while distilleries are preferred in case large quantities of liquor have to be dumped, the fact that it was just 2,000 bottles had led to officials deciding to dig a pit to dispose of it.

“They were unaware of the presence of an open well nearby, which is why this happened,” he added.

In the meantime, while residents wait for the water supply to return to normal, the bar owner will be paying the bills for the water supply of the affected families.

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