DW BUREAU / chandigarh The Punjab excise department on Wednesday said it has made GPS-enabled tracking devices mandatory in vehicles carrying ethanol, spirits and other items to check their pilferage for making spurious liquor.           The move comes in wake of the recent hooch tragedy that claimed more than 120 lives in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur's Batala. "Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered stringent measures, including mandatory GPS linkage, to check in-transport pilferage of ethanol, spirits and other products by unscrupulous elements for use in the manufacture of illicit liquor," according to a government statement here. From September 5, no vehicle will be allowed to transport such products without tamper-proof sealing and GPS enabling," said Excise Commissioner Rajat Agarwal. The GPS coordinates of the vehicle will need to be preserved by the unit for a period of not less than 15 days from the date of completion of delivery of a consignment, as per directions of excise commissioner. These are aimed at providing checks on the transportation of extra neutral alcohol (ENA), ethanol, specially denatured spirit (SDS), denatured spirit (DNS) and rectified spirit (RS) by the distilleries, said the statement. The tamper-proof sealing of the tankers will be done by the distillery units before dispatch and the seal will be broken only by the recipient, under the new rules, said Agarwal. Both dispatch and receiving units will have to maintain records and certifications to this effect for each tanker/truck, said Agarwal.           In no case shall the transport vehicle be allowed to stop enroute to its destination within Punjab, except in case of a breakdown, when the manufacturing unit shall be duty bound to inform the excise officer incharge of the unit within a period of not more than 15 minutes of such a breakdown. The seals on the outlet of the transport vehicle must be kept intact and not broken in any way in such instances, said the excise commissioner.  If the breakdown necessitates transfer of the material/products to another vehicle, the same shall be done in the presence of, or in accordance with the instructions of an excise officer of the jurisdiction in which the breakdown has occurred.  In case the vehicle stops enroute within the jurisdiction of the state of Punjab for reasons other than breakdown, it would be assumed that the vehicle has been stopped for pilferage and should such a scenario arise, the distillery and the transporter shall be jointly and severally liable for civil and/or criminal action as per the law.   Further, it will be the responsibility of the receiving unit to ensure that the entire contents of the material purchased and carried in the transport vehicle have been unloaded and there is no residue material in the transport vehicle, said Agarwal. During the police investigation into the hooch tragedy, it was discovered that the trucks carrying spirit and other items were pilfered at roadside 'dhabas' for making spurious liquor. It was also found in a probe that methanol (methyl alcohol) was used in making spurious liquor. (editor@dailyworld.in)