Use of ‘tharra’ rises alarmingly

By Intikhab Ali

KARACHI: The number of teenagers in the city drinking locally made liquor called tharra is fast increasing.

The sale and purchase of this liquor is rising in the slums and low-income localities. Apart from the countless who have fallen in addiction to this liquor, there are thousands of teenagers drinking this local brand also known in the market as kuppi, bambaat, katchi shraab and kutta maar.

This liquor is life-threatening and its worst side-effects include loss of eyesight and destroyed liver.

It claimed a number of lives last year when scores of users in Kharadar, Baldia Town and Chakiwara fell sick after drinking the liquor that had turned poisonous. The relatives of the deceased took away the bodies without postmortem and the issue was not highlighted.

But now, this liquor has become a major source of concern in lower middle class localities. It turns into poison as it grows old, but the sellers seldom pause before selling it.

A survey by Daily Times revealed that Azam Basti, Manzoor Colony, Akhtar Colony, Chunaiser Goth, Eisa Nagri, Pehlwan Goth, Lyari, the costal belt from Korangi to Ibrahim Hyderi, Surjani Town, Khuda Ki Basti, parts of New Karachi, parts of Orangi Town, Machar Colony and Geedar Colony are the areas where users of this killer most abound.

Police sources said the trade in this liquor flourished when the city police were busy fighting terrorism and the city was buffeted by sectarian violence and bomb explosions. However, It is believed that the police have been lenient for one reason or another with those involved in the illegal busies of narcotics and liquor.

A group of people told this reporter that teenagers in Akhtar Colony were using this liquor with abandon but the area police had taken no action. “The boys bring the liquor in plastic bags, just as they carry juice parcels,” one of them said. They demanded action against those making it and selling it to their children.

Sources said that rotten fruit, spirit, molasses, shrubs, certain chemicals and medicines are used to make the liquor, and imbalance in the chemical combination makes it lethal.

An insider disclosed that dealers in this liquor also fool the rich by mixing “tharra” with imported liquor and selling it to them. “They suck out imported liquor through syringes or other methods, and then inject tharra into the bottles. Those who drink it are blissfully ignorant of the fact that it is half foreign and half tharra,” he said.

“Most such liquor mixing happens in Keamari and Ibrahim Hyderi.”

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