Locals also complain bitterly about the fact that the natural flow of Begna, a seasonal river, will be hampered since the distillery has been constructed right on the river bed, which may result in flooding of their fields and even villages. The construction of the 31-foot-road, villagers say, has also resulted in the caving in of natural rivulets that freely flowed under it earlier. Says Mohan Singh, a farmer from Badoli, “We are considering launching a full-fledged agitation on the manner in which the distillery is functioning and affecting lives of villagers.”

Last month, villagers of Sherpur, local forest officials and staff of the distillery were involved in a fracas over an alleged land grab. Says Pawan Diwan, the Sarpanch of Sherpur, “In 2003, the forest department had done tree plantation on our land. A few days ago, workers from the distillery cleared three acres and chopped 157 trees. Villagers collected in large numbers at night and recovered the logs but the police is refusing to register a formal case.”

District administrators in Ambala said they had been informed about the incident but not about the fact that employees of the distillery were also involved in it. Surprisingly, a top district official, speaking on the condition that he not be named, said he was unaware that the distillery has begun operations -- it started bottling for major brands, including Seagram’s three months ago -- but admitted that requests for urgent clearances for land acquisition as well as pollution and excise permits had come from “senior CID officials” in Chandigarh.

... contd.