The politics of pathaneer: Why a cool drink in Tamil Nadu is in hot water

Every time summer comes around, a large number of people in Tamil Nadu turn to pathaneer, seen as one of the healthiest, most natural, and traditional cooling drinks. However, despite its wide consumption, its extraction is caught in red tape.A recent debate in the Tamil Nadu assembly between Speaker M Appavu and minister for khadi and village industries K Ponmudy brought the issue into the spotlight. Ponmudy said that although palm sap is non-alcoholic when extracted, as pathaneer ferments, it can become an intoxicant. This, he explained, was why the drink is regulated under the Prohibition Act and monitored by the excise department. He added that those who extract it need a licence meant for intoxicants. Appavu, who hails from palm-rich Tirunelveli, backed the tappers, saying pathaneer, when freshly tapped, doesn't ferment immediately — yet tappers were being asked to seek govt permission for the process.Ponmudy said that even if tappers claim to extract only sap, it could still be fermented, which was why a ban on pathaneer extraction was needed, allowing it only for byproducts such as palm sugar and candy. Appavu said tappers were often detained by police, affecting their livelihoods, to which Ponmudy said the issue of police interference would be addressed.The debate also reopened the issue of how the state will justify its investment in the palmyrah development mission if tapping is restricted, and how palm — the state tree — would be conserved. Historically, during the non-cooperation movement in 1921, social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy, who was then in the Congress, campaigned against toddy, while the British marketed their own liquor. "To do away with the competition, the British enacted the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, which was implemented on a pilot basis in Salem, North Arcot, Chittoor, and Kadapa," says Pandian, a palm tree farmer in Villupuram district. After Independence, with no opposition to the Act, it was implemented across Madras Presidency during the chief ministership of Omandur Ramasamy Reddiar.In the 1970s and 1980s, says Pandian, the DMK and AIADMK opened toddy shops for a few years, during which palm climbers could only sell to these outlets. "Climbers were reduced from farmers to daily wage workers," says Pandian. "Those shops also sold arrack that created an image among the public that consuming toddy is wrong. Later, these shops were used to sell Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL)."Toddy is classified as an alcohol in Tamil Nadu, says Tamil Nadu toddy movement field coordinator C Nallysamy. "Palm climbers having to get licences is wrong." Pandian alleges that police in the prohibition department harass palm climbers.As per the govt's 2025-2026 khadi and village industries department policy note, TN has issued 2,612 licences to palm farmers to tap pathaneer. The practice of distributing licences has been around since 1939 when the TN Neera and Padani Rules were included under the Prohibition Act. According to it, the licences need to be renewed every April, the season when pathaneer is tapped in large quantities (as it is sweeter).Kannan, founder of The Palm Era, a startup involved in palm tree-related food product manufacturing, says police restrictions are higher in the northern and western parts of the state than in the southern districts. "In south Tamil Nadu, pathaneer-based jaggery hardens and lasts longer, while in the north and west it melts quickly, which is why most farmers find extracting toddy a better source of income. This leads to more police restrictions in the north."Kannan adds that pathaneer is collected drop by drop in pots, and exposure to air and heat gradually ferments it into toddy. "The level of alcohol content increases as the heat rises. To prevent the sap from turning into toddy, lime is smeared inside the pot. But even then, the juice will turn into alcohol in a day or two," he says."Palm jaggery manufacturers use the extracted pathaneer immediately, so that it remains sweet. If left for even a day it will turn bitter," says Kannan. He adds that the pathaneer sold in cities may be adulterated. "Lime slows fermentation, so some manufacturers add a lot into the sap. If one keeps drinking pathaneer which has a large amount of lime, there are chances of developing kidney stones," he says. "There are no quality checks when it comes to selling pathaneer."Godson Samuel, a pastor and environmental activist from Kanyakumari, says the restrictions on tapping pathaneer are driving people away from the profession. "There are no restrictions on selling palm by-products, only on tapping pathaneer. Without palm climbers, conserving the trees will be difficult. And with neglect, we will lose them to urbanisation," says Samuel.Email your feedback with name and address to southpole.toi@timesofindia.com

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