MP: Cong condemns officials for pouring 'liquor' into Narmada

At a time when the Madhya Pradesh government is working towards ensuring that liquor shops remain at a distance of over five kilometres from the Narmada, videos purportedly showing state Excise department personnel emptying liquor-filled drums into the river have raised the hackles of the opposition Congress.

The party has condemned the incident, which happened in Dhar district on Friday, and said action should be initiated against the Excise officials for making the river, the state's lifeline, "impure".

Videos, which have since gone viral on the social media, show men in khaki, apparently from the Excise department, emptying the contents of drums seized during an anti-illicit liquor drive into the river.

The department, on its part, has denied that the men poured liquor into the river and claimed that it was only the additive, a primary ingredient in the manufacture of such alcohol, that had been released.

"The 'masala' (additive) from which the liquor is made has been dumped into pits by the side of the Narmada. We are well aware of the river's sanctity and would never do anything to make it impure," Dhar Assistant Excise Officer Sharad Chandra Nigam said today.

However, former state Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said, "The officials have committed an offence by dumping liquor into the holy river. This act has hurt the religious feelings of Hindus."