Terrific Thursday! Alcohol flows from kitchen taps in this town

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Residents of Solomon's Avenue apartment complex in Chalakudy town of Thrissur were in for a surprise when they noticed brownish water with an unmistakable smell gushing out of their kitchen taps a few days ago.

On further inquiry, they found that they literally had beer, brandy and rum running through the kitchen taps, a Times of India report read. The residents then approached the municipality authorities, who traced the 'hiccup' to an excise department operation in the area a few days earlier. The report said the excise department had dumped more than 4,500 litres of liquor that it had seized into a pit. It was unaware that most of it would flow into a nearby well, which is the main source of water for the residents of Solomon Apartments. Joshy Maliyekkal, who resides in the building, first spotted brownish water coming from the taps and thought it was the result of a rusted pipe.

"I had barely switched on my water pump to fill the overhead tank on Sunday afternoon, when the sight of the water got me really scared. And the smell was unmistakable and taste confirmed that someone mixed copious amounts of alcohol with the water," Maliyekkal was quoted as saying in the report.

After all the residents in the complex started receiving the same water, they decided to contact the Chalakudy municipality ward councillor, and alternative water supply arrangements were made for the residents. Deputy excise commissioner TK Sanu was quoted as saying that the well had been "cleaned" at least eight times to remove all traces of liquor. "Till the water becomes completely clean, we will provide drinking water to the affected families," he said.

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