Dibrugarh: The Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) is campaigning in Demow tea gardens against ‘sulai’, citing its health and social costs.ATTSA held its latest awareness session at Diroi Tea Estate in Sivasagar district on Sunday. Senior members Diganta Tasa and Rajkishore Bhumij led the weeklong drive.The campaign targets ‘sulai’, or country liquor, widely consumed in the tea garden areas because it is cheap and easily available. ATTSA members said regular drinking can damage the liver and kidneys, shorten life expectancy and harm pregnant women and unborn children. They also warned of health risks to those involved in illicit brewing.Tasa said the drive was meant to protect families, not blame workers. “We are not here to lecture anyone. We are here because we have seen alcohol destroy families in the gardens, one household at a time. When parents drink, it is the children who suffer the most. Their education gets disrupted, their homes become unstable, and this cycle repeats across generations unless someone intervenes,” Tasa added.‘Sulai’, a colourless spirit traditionally distilled from molasses or rice, has long been common in tea gardens. But illegal brewers often adulterate it to cut costs or increase potency. In 2019, contaminated ‘sulai’ killed at least 158 people, most of them tea garden workers, in Golaghat and Jorhat districts. Investigators found methanol, liquid jaggery and crushed dry-cell battery material in the brew consumed by victims.ATTSA said the campaign would continue in more Demow tea estates.
ATTSA held its latest awareness session at Diroi Tea Estate in Sivasagar district
