It has sought legislative and administrative reforms to regulate the storage, transport and use of methanol to prevent recurrence of such events and asked for the families of victims to be taken care of, particularly orphaned children, by giving them priority access to government hospitals, for food, shelter, education and, in future, employment opportunities. Even survivors should be given low-interest loans for starting small ventures and also additional compensation, says the report, taking a compassionate, and not a victim-bashing, view. — Internet

When a hooch tragedy struck Kallakurichi, a backward district in Tamil Nadu, in June 2024, taking a toll of 70 lives, besides sending 161 persons through hell in hospitals, it raised a plethora of questions on a wide range of issues relating to society and the obvious malfunctioning of the police, administrative and prohibition enforcement apparatuses. But there had been more to it, according to the one-man commission appointed to go into the circumstances leading to the disaster.

Besides pointing fingers at the corrupt police force and village bodies, the Justice Gokuldas Commission blames the lack of development as a reason for the disaster by recommending establishment of industries in the district to create jobs for youth as a panacea.

The illicit trade of bootlegging, carried out in a totally unscrupulous manner by mixing methanol to arrack that is banned in the state, with no concern for human lives, was the main cause for the disaster. The 484-page report, presented in the Assembly, alleged a strong nexus between the bootleggers and policemen, blamed the excise and revenue departments for serious lapses and recommended rehabilitation measures for the victims.

It has sought legislative and administrative reforms to regulate the storage, transport and use of methanol to prevent recurrence of such events and asked for the families of victims to be taken care of, particularly orphaned children, by giving them priority access to government hospitals, for food, shelter, education and, in future, employment opportunities. Even survivors should be given low-interest loans for starting small ventures and also additional compensation, says the report, taking a compassionate, and not a victim-bashing, view.

In fact, when the tragedy unfolded it was told the illicit arrack vendor with a sobriquet, ‘Kannukutti’ (young calf), was popular among the people and that his existence was common knowledge. But the report looks at the tragedy through the prism of the affected community’s economic and social backwardness, sans any judgement, with genuine human concern for the deprived people while being harsh on the failure and corruption of the powerful officialdom.

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