It was the time when the Prohibition Act was in force in Madras State. On the auspicious day of Aadi Amavasai on August 6, 1967, unsuspecting residents in and around Krishnampet in south Madras, mostly Corporation conservancy workers, drank French polish (varnish) containing alcohol. The intoxicant was widely used as a substitute for liquor. The residents were said to be accustomed to taking the drink which gave them “relief” after a day’s hard toil. In the preceding two decades, when they consumed it, nothing untoward had happened on a mass scale. However, 24 hours later, many developed nausea, vomiting, loss of vision, sudden drop in blood pressure, and burning sensation in the stomach. On August 8, 49 residents, including nine women, died at Royapettah Hospital, General Hospital, and Stanley Hospital, mainly because of respiratory and cardiac failure. The methanol content in the varnish was said to be the cause.
Also read: Varnish poison takes toll of 137 lives
A.R. Natarajan, Chemical Examiner to the Government, concluded that methanol, an ingredient not permitted to be used in the preparation of varnish, was found in large quantities in the bodily fluids of the victims and in the varnish stocks seized. His report said most survivors would lose sight. Preliminary investigation revealed that the varnish was bought at a local shop. Three persons, including shop-owner Paramanandam, were arrested. Rotary Nagar, a slum at Krishnampet, accounted for the largest number of victims, many aged 40-60.
Mourners intoxicated
Quoting an eyewitness, a report in The Hindu said that even as the bodies were being carried to the crematorium, many of the mourners in the procession, some of them teenagers, were themselves drunk. A young man had told the correspondent, “We know it is unlawful; we also know it is harmful to health and may prove fatal sometimes, but we do not bother what happens to us afterwards. We are satisfied with the much-needed relief it gives.” The man worked in a timber depot, earning ₹4 a day, of which he spent 50 paise-₹1 on drink. Convicted twice for drunkenness, he had paid ₹20 in fine each time. But he did not mind paying fine any number of times: he could not do without it because it made him forget his bodily pain and kept him fit for the next day’s labour.
On August 9, it soon turned into a twin hooch tragedy as 42 residents of Walajabad in Chengalpattu district, including two women, died of varnish poisoning at Kancheepuram hospital, Chengalpattu hospital, and Walajabad dispensary. Here too, the victims consumed varnish on Aadi Amavasai and the following day. Reports indicated that the killer brew was being sold in the shandy at Walajabad for several years.
To familiarise themselves with the methods used to treat varnish poisoning, doctors from the Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram hospitals visited Royapettah Hospital. Fearing prosecution under the Prohibition Act, some patients absconded from hospitals. Meanwhile, the Chengalpattu Collector appealed to those affected to get themselves admitted to hospital without the fear of prosecution. The toll in the hooch tragedies in Madras city and Walajabad touched 137 on August 10, 1967. Eventually, at least 140 lives were lost. The Hindu editorial on August 10 read, “The Tek Chand Committee that studies the working of prohibition speaks not only of widespread illicit distillation in every State pretending to enforce the dry law, but testifies to the frequent use of injurious substances in such distillation like frogs, lizards and snakes, besides dry battery cells, copper sulphate and ammonium sulphate. Fatal victims of these brews as well as of the stuff sold as varnish or French polish may not get reported to the police, so long as the deaths occur as isolated instances and thus can be treated as due to natural causes.”
No rethink on prohibition: Annadurai
Commenting on the tragedy, Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai said on August 11, “The news of the varnish tragedy came on the third day of the Collectors’ conference at Tiruchirappalli. I did not believe it and I wished that it was 4, instead of 44.” He said the volume of varnish sold in the last two years was almost equal to that of arrack sold in the pre-prohibition days. If the varnish had gone to bona fide hands and actual users, “then every house in the State should have a new look”, he added. The next day, after visiting those under treatment, Annadurai insisted that the tragedies did not call for a rethink on the prohibition policy. He would discuss with officials how to tighten the rules governing the sale of varnish after examining the legal implications. Asked if the victims would be given any relief, particularly the orphaned children, the Chief Minister said the government would see to it that they were admitted to orphanages, and the question of giving help to the other victims would be studied.
In December that year, the government published amendments to the Madras Denatured Spirit, Methyl Alcohol and Varnish (French Polish) Rules.
Regular customers
On July 4, 1976, during the Emergency, Madras became an epicentre of yet another hooch tragedy. In August 1971, 23 years of dry law came to an end in the State and toddy and arrack shops were opened. But they were shut down in September 1974. This time, illicit liquor claimed at least 60 lives, including those of four women. The victims of methanol poisoning were mostly from Ayanavaram, Pulianthope, and Perambur in north Madras, predominantly inhabited by the working class. They died at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, ESI Hospital, Stanley Hospital, Royapettah Hospital, and Perambur Railway Hospital. Unlike the 1967 tragedy, no feast or special party was the cause of mass gathering at Ayanavaram. Citing residents, a report in The Hindu mentioned that the illicit liquor trade was popular in the area and the victims were regular customers.
Among the victims were two bootleggers, including a woman. As the fatalities occurred in quick succession, the morgues at General Hospital and Kilpauk Medical College Hospital were besieged by relatives of the victims. At one stage, the General Hospital mortuary got filled up, and some bodies had to be transferred to the Stanley Hospital mortuary. On July 9, the toll soared to 113.
About a week later, the government constituted a five-member committee, headed by former Madras High Court judge R. Sadasivam, to make a comprehensive study of prohibition and suggest ways for its stricter enforcement.
