Methanol use to be regulated in K'taka

Additional Director General of Police Shankar M Bidari, who has prepared a report on the cause of the tragedy, said: "We have suggested the state government to design rules pertaining to the movement and use of methanol. The government should act tough against the misuse of the chemical irrespective of whether it was intentional or accidental."

At present, there are 13 wholesale methanol dealers in the state who have obtained licences from the drugs control department. Methanol is either procured from manufacturers based in Maharashtra and Gujarat or are imported from Iran. As there is no mechanism to track the sale of methanol by the wholesale dealers, bootleggers have easy access to the toxic substance that is potent enough to damage the central nervous system.

In fact, investigations have revealed that the tragedy is a fall-out of mistaken identity. "The bootleggers, who wanted to cash in on the demand for liquor during the assembly elections, ended up purchasing methanol instead of ethyl alcohol, which is normally used to manufacture arrack. The colour, odour and form of methanol is same as that of ethyl alcohol. As methanol was mixed in spirit, the outcome was the killer spirit," a senior police officer said.

To prevent such misuse, Bidari said a recommendation has also been made for the formation of a committee comprising officers from the police, drugs control, law and excise departments to monitor the manufacture, storage, transportation and use of methanol.

At present, the Poison Act-1919 does not mandate permits for transportation of methanol. In this backdrop, Bidari said, the committee will consider the idea of colouring methanol in order to distinguish it from other chemicals, a move that is likely to pre-empt illicit liquor tragedies.

In fact, the previous spurious liquor tragedies were triggered by the use of methanol. In 1981, a total of 323 persons were killed in Bangalore and Mysore after consuming the methanol-laced liquor. In the Nelamangala tragedy reported four years ago, a total of 54 persons were killed. Similar deaths were reported from Hassan in 2005 and in Bangalore's Sriramapuram area in 2006.

Regulation of methanol, however, is likely to increase pressure on the industries that use the chemical. According to drugs control officials, four or five tankers of methanol arrive in Bangalore everyday. Methanol is usually converted into formaldehyde that is used in plastic, plywood, paints, explosives, pesticide manufacturing, electroplating, anti-freezing, pharmaceutical, semiconductor and textile industries.