312 offenders were challaned in Mohali under Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. It was reported that as many as 8,077 offenders have been challaned in Punjab during the month of April 2017. The government collected an amount of Rs 4,80,965 as fine from the challans. The Mohali health department is taking strict action against the offenders to control smoking and spitting tobacco at public places.
312 Fined for Smoking in Public Places in Mohali
It was reported that as many as 312 offenders were challaned under Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 in Mohali. In the month of April a total of 8,077 offenders have been challaned in Punjab
Get challaned for Smoking & spitting tobacco at public places in Mohali
It was informed by the health and family welfare minister that the state government has issued orders to take strict actions against the offenders under Section 268 and 269 of Indian Penal Code. According to reports, it was also stated that the Punjab government has also ordered all the district authorities to book offenders for smoking or spitting tobacco at public places and also take necessary actions under Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. The report also stated that the concerned departments have been ordered to take stringent actions under various acts in the direction.
Where to smoke & where to not?
With an aim to provide protection to nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke an act was passed in the Parliament to ban smoking in different public places. Most of the government properties fall under this act which includes airports, railway stations bus stands/stations, courts, post offices and market et al. According to this notification, other than the government properties places where smoking is restricted include movie theatres, auditoriums, hospitals (Private and government), restaurants, hotels, amusement centres, shopping malls, refreshment rooms, banquet halls, coffee houses, discothèques, educational institutions, parks etc.
Though one is free to smoke on roads, inside one’s vehicle or home. One is also free to smoke at designated separate smoking areas which have been specially constructed in airports, pubs, bars and restaurants, discothèques. Some workplaces too have enclosed ‘smoking zones’.
WHO survey on Smoking and chewing tobacco
As per a report a survey conducted by WHO found that smoking at public places and chewing tobacco affected the sanitation as well as public health adversely. Numerous substances in a cigarette are hazardous. These hazardous particles cause heart diseases, damage blood vessel walls, increase the tendency of blood platelets to clot and also increases the risks to heart attacks in smokers as well as people and animals around them.
Source: Times of India
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