Sitting on a cot in his dingy single-room house in Karunapuram, Mayakannan makes a blank stare at the wall and calls his son for support.

Mayakannan remains the visible reminder of the ill -fated day  on June 18, 2024 when a few pouches of moonshine robbed him of his eyesight. 

Though the grisly reminder of the tragedy that claimed 69 lives is fading in Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district, the pain isn’t over with survivors who are blind trying to avoid the outside world; families struggling to make ends meet; and widows with dreams they cannot fulfill alone.

The deaths occurred after residents of Karunapuram, mostly belonging to the Scheduled Castes and others from socially and economically disadvantaged groups, who were daily wage labourers and loaders, consumed methanol-infused hooch from a local bootlegger Govindaraj, alias Kannukutty on the night of June 18, 2024.

“It was a mistake. I have realised it now,” said Mayakannan, a load man who has now completely lost his eyesight. The drink (hooch) was easily available in Karunapuram and was sold at a cheap price. I was working as a load man in the local market and drank the brew to drive away exhaustion. The next day (June 19), I felt nausea and blurred vision and my son Murasoli Maran immediately rushed me to the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital (KGMCH),” Mayakannan recalled.

As Mayakannan’s condition deteriorated, he was referred to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) in Puducherry.

“After being admitted in the Intensive Care Unit at Jipmer for 15 days, I was discharged. But I had lost my eyesight. Though the Government gave a compensation of ₹50,000, the treatment expenses in a private hospital in Kallakurichi for my eyesight ate into the sum. I have been confined within the four walls of my house for the past one year,” he says.

A few lanes away, Murugan, another survivor said he had no idea about hooch being supplied as most of the residents including women consumed the brew daily.

“I an unable to stand now for a few minutes and my right arm has become numb. I wish I had died then, like several of my friends because of the continued mental agony now. I was the sole breadwinner in my family. Now I have become a burden to my family and my wife Kolanji is working as a ragpicker to supplement the family income,” he said.

“I have now started drinking IMFL, which is available in Karunapuram. Earlier, I used to drink arrack to drive away my exhaustion and now I am consuming liquor to overcome my mental agony,” he says.

Radha, 33, was two months pregnant with her second child, when she lost her husband Manikandan, also a daily-wage labourer to hooch.

“My husband consumed the brew on the night of June 18 and returned home the next morning. After he complained of severe abdominal pain and blurred vision, we rushed him to the KGMCH from where he was referred to Villupuram. However, he died enroute to the hospital,” she says.

Radha is the second wife of Manikandan and the compensation of ₹10 lakh was equally distributed between his two wives. She deposited the amount as a Fixed Deposit in the name of her daughter. Without the daily wages that Manikandan brought in, Radha now has to sustain herself and her two children, doing odd jobs.

Anil Pal, a native of Rajasthan and settled in Karunapuram has also lost his vision.

“I worked as a painter and used to drink almost everyday after work. After drinking a few pouches of the brew on June 18, I felt strange. I ignored the uneasiness initially and stayed at home, but as other residents began falling ill, my son rushed me to the KGMCH and doctors referred me to Jipmer. I thought I was going to die. Though I survived I have lost my eyesight. This is worse than death,” Pal said.

Following the intensive crackdown on illicit distilled arrack in the Kalvarayan Hills, sales of IMFL sold through TASMAC, which is the next cheapest option has seen a jump.

Official sources said the hills had two Tasmac liquor shops and both had registered a 100 % jump in sales when compared with the previous year. The district has registered a 40 % increase in sales.

Crackdown against illicit arrack

The law enforcement authorities launched a two-pronged drive to combat the problem of illicit arrack in Kalvarayan hills, which is the main distillation point. It consists of a campaign to educate people about the dangers of distillation and a rehabilitation programme aimed at prohibition offenders.

“A task force was deployed and sustained raids were conducted and police officers who were suspected of having a nexus with bootleggers were transferred. With 570 sq.km of forests and mountainous terrain in the hills, the police department started building sources and targeted black spot villages. The existing three check posts were strengthened and in the last one year, there has not been a single case of transport of arrack from the hills,” a senior police officer said.

The police have mounted surveillance on loose arrack sellers and as many as 54 persons including Bootleggers have been detained under the Goondas Act in the last one year.