Amritsar’s smoke-free tag goes up in smoke

Amritsar, May 31

A decade after the city was accorded the smoke-free city status, a mere walk through the market places reveals the futility of holding vigorous exercise to get the said status, as smoking at public places is a common sight.

People can be seen smoking at market places in the evenings. Though it is annoying, no one can dare question anyone as the other person might get offended. The smoke-free status should be implemented strictly and the administration must find a way to check violations. Sukhwinder Singh, a CITY resident

On Tuesday, when World No Tobacco Day is being observed all over the world, the Amritsar Tribune team visited the markets to check the dismaying ground reality.

The city was officially accorded the smoke-free city status on April 15, 2012. The exercise involved creating awareness among residents and tobacco sellers, putting up warning signs at each and every public place, including eateries, and issuing challan books to all government departments to penalise public smokers at their offices.

However, over the last decade, except for the Health Department and to a limited extent the traffic police, none of the other departments has ever issued a challan to anyone. In the present scenario, only the Health Department conducts inspections every month and issues challans.

A health official said: “It’s a big city. The Health Department neither has manpower, nor the infrastructure to check smoking at public places.” The official said department’s inspections mainly focus on tobacco venders to ensure that COPTA guidelines are followed.

Meanwhile, residents complained that smoking at public places is a menace, as it exposes non-smokers to passive smoking. They said the number of smokers increases at public places as soon as it gets dark.

Sukhwinder Singh, a resident, said: “People can be seen smoking at market places in the evenings. Though it is annoying, no one can dare question anyone as the other person might get offended.” He said the smoke-free status should be implemented strictly and the administration must find a way to check violations.

MAY 31: World No Tobacco Day

• The city was officially accorded the smoke-free city status on April 15, 2012. The exercise involved creating awareness among residents and tobacco sellers, putting up warning signs at each and every public place, including eateries, and issuing challan books to all government departments to penalise public smokers at their offices
• However, over the last decade, except for the Health Department and to a limited extent the traffic police, none other departments have ever issued a challan to anyone. In the present scenario, only the Health Department conducts inspections every month and issues challans