Often beer drinkers wish, if only their home taps would flow with the sweet mead once in a while. Well, this wishful thinking came true for the residents of an apartment in India recently.
A small sleepy town located in the Indian state of Kerala, Chalakudy, in Thrissur district, woke up earlier this week with their drinking water taps flowing with a mix of beer, brandy, and rum.
Residents of Solomon's Avenue apartment in Kerala's Thrissur district on February 4 found a cocktail of beer, brandy and rum gushing out of their water taps instead of drinking water.
Soon residents got together and found that some 18 families of this particular residential block were getting this cocktail of beer, brandy, and rum. The residents then approached the town municipal authorities and the local health officials.
With the authorities reaching a dead end, the local residents began investigating the well from which the water pumped into the residential block. The resident soon found that the city's Excise Department, which is responsible for licensing and distribution of liquor, had confiscated some 6000 liters of illegal liquor.
The officials, who could not find a proper way to dispose off the seized contraband, and instead decided to uncork all the seized bottles of liquor and it was emptied into the ground recently.
The liquor then seeped into the well and contaminated the water. The furious residents have turned the request from the Excise department for taking back the complaint they filed with the town municipal and health authorities.
The Excise department has promised to clean the well and even supply water to the apartment. The residents of Chalakudy, however, have requested for an investigation on the officers who poured the liquor into the ground.
When it comes to liquor consumption, Kerala tops the drinking charts in India. The per capita alcohol consumption is 8 liters (1.76 gallons) per person per year, well above the national annual average alcohol consumption, which is 5.7 liters (1.25 gallons) per person per year.
In an effort to control, the alcohol consumption, the state has imposed restrictions and in order to meet the demand, liquor is smuggled into the state from outside.
