Excise dept's 'carelessness' caused hooch tragedy: Harish Rawat

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat slammed the ruling BJP government over the hooch tragedy, saying the incident occurred due to "carelessness" of the state excise department.

Terming the compensation of Rs 2 lakh announced by the Uttarakhand government for the families of those killed in the tragedy inadequate, Rawat said an amount of at least Rs 5 lakh should have been given to them besides a job to one dependent member from each family.

He said proper arrangements were made for the treatment of people who were critical after the incident.

"They should be referred to higher centres for proper treatment," Rawat said.

He alleged that Uttarakhand is becoming the hub of manufacturing illicit liquor and these units have the support from some quarters.

Seventy people have died in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and more than 20 are battling for life in the two states after consuming spurious liquor on Thursday evening after the 'tehravin', the 13th day of mourning ritual, following a relative's death in Balupur, officials said.

Twenty-four of the victims died in Balupur and its neighbouring villages in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, state's Additional Director General (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said.

At least 46 others, who had come home to the adjoining Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh after drinking the spurious liquor in Balupur on Thursday night, are also dead.