Hooch ‘compounds’ woes of residents

HYDERABAD: Residents of Gowlipura, Jangamet, Lalitha Bagh and Uppugudda are up in arms against the rampant sale of illicit distilled liquor (gudumba) in their areas. Most of the liquor compounds in these areas which are visited by thousands of men everyday are run by women. Gudumba is procured from either Dhoolpet in the city, Shadnagar or Mahbubnagar.Many of these outlets are multi-story houses operational for decades.
The residents complain that life is never normal in their localities and that they have no choice but to grudgingly accept the presence of drunks and gudumba outlets. “Come evening, drunks can be found on the roads or lying outside houses. The women cannot step out after sundown. The drunks also commit thefts besides waylaying passersby. Children cannot play around as the drunks force them out of playgrounds to indulge in other antisocial activities. Even during the day gudumba is sold here, forcing the residents to keep their doors shut,” said a resident of Gowlipura.
Rough estimates point to several outlets, five of them to be big. Each of the big compounds is said to be visited by at least 200 persons every day after sunset. Operated mostly by women they are located in a radius of 7 km under Chatrinaka police station limits. Locals allege that the cops and excise officials are hand-in-glove with the sellers and take huge bribes to allow them to function.
“The involvement of police and excise officials has come to light several times. The compound owners come to know about raids before hand and scoot. Even if they are caught, they come out scot free and continue their business. Otherwise how can this business thrive? Recently when Section 144 was imposed after communal clashes broke out, even the grocery stores were closed but the liquor compounds remained operational,” they lamented.
Chatrinaka inspector, N Shyam Prasad Rao informed that the sale of liquor is rampant because the majority population belongs to a community of labourers who frequent the compounds. He said, “About 60 per cent population here is involved in construction and other heavy labour activities. Hence there is a high demand for gudumba. Those who sell liquor have been doing so for decades now and it is mostly women who do the selling. We constantly book cases and take people into custody. In the last six months 40 cases have been booked.”
Excise inspector of Charminar excise and prohibition station Sudhakar Varma, informed that areas notorious for sale of gudumba include Pardiwada, Lalitha Bagh and Uppuguda besides Krishna Nagar and surrounding areas in the Old City. He said that they book 60-70 cases every year under the AP Prohibition Act. The efforts of officials seem to have not made any difference to the residents as they continue to live in constant fear.