Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Within a week of seizing illegally stored country-made liquor worth Rs 20 lakh from a private godown in MIDC Waluj, the city police destroyed the entire stock on November 28. Following the action at the godown, Atul Chakk, a key confidante of a senior politician of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district was named as the accused.Sources said that as Chakk was trying to explore options to get back the illegally stored country-made liquor, the police sped up the process and destroyed on Wednesday.Deputy commissioner of police (zone-I) Nitin Bagate, who led the team that carried out the raid on November 23, said this was probably the first case in Maharashtra where large quantity of seized country liquor was destroyed within a week. Following the seizure, samples of the liquor were collected and sent to the forensic lab for chemical analysis, he added.MIDC Waluj police inspector Avinash Aghav, who carried out the legal formalities for destroying the seized liquor, said, The perishable liquor boxes were kept in an empty police quarter, which spread strong odour, causing trouble to the families in the quarters and the people visiting the police station, said Aghav. First application seeking permission to destroy to the liquor was made before the judicial magistrate first class, Gangapur, which ordered the superintendent of state excise to initiate process to dispose the liquor in accordance to rules. We also published the following articles recentlyTelangana polls: Huge cash, gold, liquor and drugs worth Rs 709 cr seizedThe Telangana Legislative Assembly polls for 2023, scheduled on November 30, have witnessed an unprecedented surge in seizures related to election malpractices. From October 9 to November 26, a staggering Rs 709 crore worth of cash, liquor, drugs, and gold have been confiscated. This marks a tenfold increase compared to the 2018 assembly polls (Rs 145 crore) and the 2019 parliamentary elections in Telangana (Rs 84 crore). While not all seized funds are directly linked to politicians, the scale of the monetary flow is indicative of the magnitude of the issue, with a significant portion likely connected to political activities.Unseasonal rainfall in Gujarat: 20 dead; crops, stored grain destroyedUnseasonal rains caused by the western disturbance lashed almost all parts of Gujarat. The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) recorded 14 deaths till 8pm. Low visibility led to a flight being diverted at Surat airport, and at least 10 other flights were delayed. The deaths, primarily caused by lightning during thunderstorms, were the highest in Dahod at four, followed by three in Bharuch and two in Tapi. At least 40 animals were killed, and crops and property suffered widespread destruction.Life saver in mines, mountains & destroyer of hillsThe successful rescue of workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand highlights the use of a similar rescue method employed in the Mahavir colliery incident in Raniganj, West Bengal. A recent film, Mission Raniganj, showcases this elaborate rescue operation executed by a team of Coal India executives, mining engineers, and experts. The rescue involved drilling bore holes for communication and lifting the trapped miners out. Similarly, in the Uttarakhand tunnel incident, manual rescue methods were used due to the failure of the giant auger. The delay in deploying these methods may have been due to the reputation of rat-hole mining as a primitive method. Rat-hole mining is not only hazardous for miners but also causes severe environmental damage, particularly in the Garo hills. In 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned rat-hole mining in Meghalaya, but it continued illegally. In 2019, the NGT ban was set aside by the Supreme Court, allowing mining by scientific methods. These rescues highlight the life-saving potential of rat-hole mining, but the need to protect the fragile environment remains crucial.

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