Bihar becomes latest Indian state to ban alcohol

Bihar has become the latest Indian state to introduce a ban on alcohol to appease religious hardliners and combat social problems caused by drinking. Following a public announcement by chief minister Nitish Kumar, prohibition will be introduced on 1 April next year.

Bihar joins the Indian states now banning alcohol. Image by Topher i / CC BY 2.0

The full details of the ban are yet to be announced, but the indications are that Bihar will be completely dry from 2016. Several other states have tightened up the rules on alcohol recently, most famously Kerala, which introduced a partial ban in August 2014, but the bans have yielded mixed results, with large increases in drug use reported by investigating agencies. Read more: timesofindia.indiatimes.com