Annamayya district declared “illicit liquor-free”

Annamayya has been declared an “illicit liquor-free” district under the Navodayam 2.0 initiative, announced District Collector Sridhar Chamakuri at a district-level meeting here on Tuesday (September 2, 2025).

The Collector said that committees formed at the district, mandal, and village levels had extensively carried out a series of awareness campaigns across the district, sensitising the public on the health risks and legal consequences of being involved in brewing and consuming illicit liquor.

The Collector said that as many as 71 villages were affected by illicit brewing in the district, 650 offenders were involved in the contraband activities, out of which 494 were made to return to normal life. To achieve this goal, the police, along with revenue officials, conducted a number of raids at vulnerable areas and questioned about 65 jaggery merchants, he said, adding that several of them were kept under observation to prevent the supply of raw material to the illicit liquor brewing units.

Mr. Chamakuri said that as part of the rehabilitation programme for those who eschewed the illicit trade, loans were provided to 325 individuals and DRDA support to 125 persons.

Superintendent of Police V. Vidyasagar Naidu, officials of the Excise and Revenue departments were present at the meeting.