Hookah bars puff away at rules, police not aware

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 1

Hookah bars continue to operate right under the nose of the police in the city. Many bars in the city have started serving hookahs. One of the bars on the 100 feet road near Ghode Wala Chowk has made a special seating arrangements for the hookah lovers.

Many youngsters and college-going students visit the bar regularly. Even the police are not aware of it. The customers are served hookahs in the dim light. The waiter informs about the rate of the service once customers are seated. The price of the service hovers around Rs 300 per hookah. Diffrent flavours like mint, chocolate and orange are available for the customers.

This illegal hookah bar is running in the city for the last many months but no action has been taken by the police. One of the employees at the bar said there had been a rise in the number of persons visiting the bar in the past 2-3 months. He said for the youths, having a hookah signifies high status. He added that the bar serves only herbal flavors, which did not affect the health.

However, Karamjit Singh, Station Head Officer (SHO), Civil Lines police station, said he was not aware of the hookah bar running in the city but assured of looking into the matter.

Notably, the Punjab Government had banned hookah bars in the state in 2011. Hookah smokers remain unaware of its dangers and often consider it as an alternative to cigarettes, but in reality, a hookah is in no way a healthy alternative to cigarettes. The use of water does not filter out cancer-causing chemicals. The tobacco used in a “sheesha” (hookah) contains nicotine. In a 60-minute hookah session, smokers are exposed to 100 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a cigarette.

A herbal “sheesha” (hookah) exposes a smoker to tar and carcinogens. It contains cancer-causing chemicals and nicotine.