Mumbai: Hooch being made inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park!

Given how the state government repeatedly hikes taxes on alcohol and controls its inflow it should come as an indignity to it that the citys famous and expansive national park is being abused to brew hooch The Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP which shelters a rich diversity of flora and fauna across its 104 square kilometers faces many perils from poaching to encroachment and humananimal conflictsWe spotted a group of locals carrying sacks of jaggery powder a key ingredient to make the liquor towards a den located in the wooded region behind Film CityBut middayrsquos latest investigations have unearthed a new adversary to the protected forest alcoholbrewing units ABU operating illegally inside the park premises Tribal dwellers in the area sought assurances of anonymity before telling midday that there are currently close to 20 illegal ABUs in operation at different spots in the junglesWe watched from a distance as tribals prepared the barrels and the firewood for the brewing processThe majority however are near Vihar lake and the forested patch around Saibhangoda and famous Maroshipada both near Aarey Milk Colony on the circumference of SGNP While the ABUs are common knowledge the tribals are not ready to speak much on the subject leading midday to hazardous encounters in our bid to uncover the locales of the illegitimate distilling and distribution of locally made alcoholRecceAfter staking out the area for almost a month our team inferred that the operations are cleverly carried out in the cover of dark There is little evidence of the activity during the day as soon after brewing a barrel the area is completely cleaned outThe makeshift stove created with bricks to boil the blendThe principal activity usually starts after 6 in the evening The local goon who runs the business has a firm hold over tribal hamlets or padas in the jungle and a small army of men and women to tend to the process While many signboards around Vihar lake near Saibhangoda prohibit public entry to the spot we found that the place is easily reachable after a 20minute walk via a trail passing from Maroshipada and another from SaibhangodaThe trail that passes via Saibhangoda area and leads up to Vihar lakeThe water body is a hot spot for those looking to down liquor by the lakeside Striding through the Saibhangoda trail we found a makeshift heating apparatus essentially a chullah The size and shape of the stoneandbrick stove seemed conducive to the process of concocting liquor Fresh coal ash and semicharred sticks could be seen lying around A tribal confirmed our suspicion that this was the site of manufactureIn March in a joint operation by the excise forest department and police 18 illegal alcoholmaking units were destroyed in Saibhangoda near Vihar lake According to locals however close to 20 units have restarted operations in the same localeSpot visit at nightIn order to verify the localrsquos claim we risked a visit to the location one night late in October pretending to be in search of hooch Once we entered the Saibhangoda pada many locals gruffly asked where we were goingClusters of sticks to be used as fuel for the stove trees are often chopped heedlessly to procure firewood for the kilnWalking to the lake via the trail we were followed by a man and a woman After around 10 minutes we finally came upon the liquor den where the manufacturing process was in progress Shortly three women came to us and curtly asked us to leave right away making threatsDistributionThe liquor is then stored at the tribal dwelling the pada in Saibhangoda until the early hours of morning and then allegedly ferried to country liquor bars or sold in illegal dens in the area that mostly cater to labourclass customers and the locals To dodge checks by the police some workers use the hollow under their bike seats to transport the liquorTransporting the makeWe made believe as if we were leaving but hid behind the trees at a distance watching the liquid simmering to a boil on the huge stove after which it was poured in blueandblack barrels 50 litres in capacity and transported from the kiln to the pada which is 10 minutes away The women were made to carry the barrels on their heads but the pitch dark did not allow for capturing any of this activity on camera At times though the alcohol is ingeniously transported in tyre tubesSecond visitOn our second visit around five days back locals from adjoining padas told us there were close to 20 illegal brewing units in the forests near Vihar lake The dens are usually set up close to water bodies as the process consumes a lot of it A few of them are on the foothills of the mountain behind Film CityWe could see water being carried in containers to the dens Around 430 pm we spotted some men and women carrying sacks of jaggery powder a key ingredient to make the liquor on their heads to another den located in the woods behind Film CityAs we forged ahead two young men shouted out for us to stop then tried to snatch our camera and check the photos We told them we were birdwatchers Failing to figure out the functions of the highend contraption they thrust it back at us and asked us to leave but not without enunciating a threat ldquoNo one is allowed to come here except our people and donrsquot you dare click pictures of anything or you wonrsquot get out of the forest on your legsrdquoRetracing our steps we finally came upon a group of men in the act of making liquor starting with cleaning a vast cylindrical container in which illicit liquor would be prepared We managed to aim our cell phone camera from our hiding place in the underbrush and make a video But within a minute people at the site came to us and asked us to go awayIllegal cutting of treesPeople involved with the ABUs are also involved in the rampant destruction of trees inside the protected forest During our recce we found that trees had been hacked at many places to obtain firewood that could be used for boiling the brew Tied bundles of sticks were seen resting against treesProfitsOne ABU makes about 300400 litres of alcohol The production cost is very low considering that the location the water and firewood is free The 50kg bag of jaggery powder the locals were seen carrying costs Rs 18002000 and is enough to yield 400 litres of alcoholThe dough earned by selling it is more than twice the amount spent concocting it There are also smaller packets of liquor with a capacity of 180 ml They are referred to by the locals as lsquopavsherrsquo and sold for R18 at country liquor shops At the spot though the packs go for cheaper at Rs 815