Patna: Police catching huge catchments of liquor in places such as Patna City, Muzaffarpur and Begusarai iun the run-up to Diwali points to Bihar's open secret: Easy availability of alcohol in a dry state.

"The large catch of liquor indicates that a much larger number of liquor bottles have already reached the market. Less than 1 per cent of the illegal liquor coming to Bihar gets caught," conceded a senior police official.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar recently exhorted people to participate in the campaign against dowry and child marriage with the same zeal they had shown for prohibition, but the Opposition alleges that he has turned a Nelson's eye to the ground realty of alcohol availability.

"Tell me a place where is liquor not available," RJD chief Lalu Prasad recently asked journalists, articulating what most acknowledge as a fact.

The RJD has also said that is it usually the poor and downtrodden who had borne the brunt of the draconian dry law. The rich pay their way out when they are caught, the party alleges.

"It is very difficult to enforce total prohibition. It has not happened anywhere in the world," pointed out N.K. Choudhary, former professor of economics at Patna University. "Talking in relative terms, consumption of liquor has come down. But truckloads of liquor are continuing to be caught and there are reports of police nexus with liquor traders."

Other economists point out that even Nitish's repeated assertion that there has been just a Rs 1,000 crore drop in revenue is misleading.

"He raised taxes on virtually everything to fill up the gap in the last financial year. Even then it could not be completely filled," remarked an economist who pleaded anonymity, pointing out that there was a shortfall of Rs 5,000 crore of excise duty after liquor was banned.

While prohibition has definitely had its impact on rural areas, the cost, say citizens and administrators, has been phenomenal.

"Not only has it created a segment of bootleggers who are making huge profits, it has also corrupted the police," a high-ranking government official conceded.