As per the sources and media reports, Delhi government has banned the Hookah bars in Delhi. The municipal corporation in Delhi has instructed to cancel the licenses of all the Hookah bars located in Delhi. This Tuesday, the health minister poured light on Hookahs being illegal in the non-smoking zones according to the Section 4 of COTPA that is Cigarette and other Tobacco products act.
Delhi Hookah Bars To Close
Hookah has become one of the popular and safe choices of indulging in smoking especially amongst the elders in rural areas. It popularity among the youth in India has led to huge disappointment for the state health ministry.
According to the media reports, in May the centre has issued the notification for the prohibition of the use of Hookahs. After this announcement in May, all the Hookah bars in any form are considered illegal and the Delhi Police and Municipal Corporation has been instructed to cancel the licenses of the restaurants and places that are illegally operating the Hookah bars in Delhi.
As per the current notifications, the State Tobacco Control Cell has been conducting multiple raids in different parts of Delhi. In these raids, the state Tobacco cell is conducting the chemical analysis of the sample collected. It has been observed that sample analyzed by the State Tobacco Control Cell contained the significant amount of nicotine after claiming the products to be herbal.
This decision of issuing an order to seize the licenses of all the places in Delhi serving Hookahs was passed after the multiple complaint letters from the residents. The residents of Delhi have been continuously writing to the Police and Municipal bodies since last 4 years to take some action against these illegal Hookah Bars.
Despite the continuous complaints, the Hookah bars are still operating in Delhi and no action has been taken to counter these illegal places in Delhi. The government has passed an order to the state Municipal corporation to cancel the licenses of all the places that are illegally serving Hookahs. After this Tuesday, the government is assumed to take a relevant action against these illegal Hookah bars in Delhi.
Source – Times Now News