India, May 15 -- Punjab finance, excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday urged the central government to take immediate action to regulate the use of methyl alcohol (methanol) under Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.

In a letter to Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal, Cheema highlighted the repeated incidents of mass casualties caused by the consumption of spurious liquor, linked to the clandestine use of methanol and underscored the serious regulatory vacuum. He said the physical appearance, odour and sedative properties of methanol closely resemble those of ethyl alcohol, making it a silent killer when diverted into the illicit liquor supply chain.

Cheema's request comes in the wa...