Dare to light up in public in Darjeeling, pay Rs 250 fine

Police officers educate shopkeepers to abstain from selling tobacco items to minors in Darjeeling.

Amitava Banerjee, HT, 17 Aug 2016, DARJEELING: Smoke a cigarette in a public space in Darjeeling and you will have to pay a fine of Rs 250. The district administration has initiated the ban on smoking in public spaces stringently since August 15.

“In a meeting of the district level coordination committee of the National Tobacco Control Programme recently, the district administration decided to impose the ban and fine offenders,” said district magistrate Anurag Shrivastava.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), in 2010 there were 10 crore smokers in India. In order to reverse the ill-effects of smoking and spread awareness MOHFW collaborated with Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR) affiliated with University of Toronto, Canada, to conduct surveys and to control tobacco abuse.

A website www.tobaccofreedistricts.com was started which provides online training course to nodal officers and other interested officials for practical implementation of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

According to the website, there are 2,82,000 men aged between 15 and 69 years in the Darjeeling district, out of which 1,41,000 men could die from smoking-related diseases. The number of people who smoke in West Bengal has risen from 1.1 crore in 1998 to 1.3 crore in 2015.

Though quitting helps reversing the ill-effects of smoking, the rate of people kicking the habbit is very low. As per the website only 1 % smokers quit smoking in West Bengal whereas the national figure stands at 5%. In US 40% quit and in England the percentage stands at 50.

Since August 15, the police have started realising fines of Rs 250 from persons found smoking in public places.

“We are conducting awareness campaigns, educating the masses, stressing on students. We have put up 40 hoarding all over the district. The health department and the police are also working in close coordination with the district administration,” added the district magistrate.

Other provision of the COTPA Act 2003 like sale of cigarettes to minors; sale of cigarettes near educational institutions (as offences) will be strictly implemented.

Police officers have been visiting shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco items to spread awareness. “We have instructed them strictly that they should not sell such goods to minors. We are also collecting fines from people smoking in public places,” said a police officer.