Step up vigil to check sale of ID liquor: Collector Hari Narayanan to babus

Chittoor: District Collector M Hari Narayanan directed the police and revenue departments to step up vigilance to prevent sale of Illicitly Distilled (ID) liquor in shops in the district. The Collector, who along with District SP Senthil Kumar held a meeting with revenue and police officials on the prevention of ID liquor sale as recently directed by Chief Secretary through video-conference, wanted them to intensify the vigilance to identify the shops that are selling ID liquor in the rural areas and also those persons involved in the supply and sale of the prohibited ID liquor.

The revenue and the police departments should work in tandem to keep a vigil on the illegal sale of ID liquor and also should periodically hold joint meetings to review the measures being taken up against ID liquor sale and also measures required to stop it completely in the district, the Collector said.

Both departments should also regularly monitor the measures being taken up to prevent the sale of ID liquor, collector said seeking them to register cases for taking up stern measures to eradicate ID liquor sale in the district.

Simultaneously, the Collector said the two departments along with medical and health department and social service organisations and NGOs should organise awareness meetings on the ill-effects of ID liquor and sensitise the people against consuming ID liquor harmful to health.

The awareness campaign should start with college and school students and cover all sections, he said seeking the police department to involve women police in the awareness programmes against ID liquor. To begin with, the Collector said the awareness programme will be held in association with voluntary associations in the three divisional headquarters - Chittoor, Tirupati and Madanapalli within a week followed by in the mandals.

SP Senthil Kumar said efforts are on to identify the shops and places where the ID liquor sale is clandestinely going on in rural areas and 'mobile checking teams' have been set up exclusively to identify the shops in the villages while on the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka borders vigilance tightened to check flow of ID liquor. Urban SP Ch Venkata Appala Naidu, who participated through video conferencing, said Renigunta Railway police and doctors, teachers will also be involved along with NGOs in taking up awareness programmes against ID liquor.