Tobacco shops can't sell soft drink, snacks

Sale of soft drinks, chips, toffees and other eatables at tobacco and cigarette shops will be banned in Lucknow city.

The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has prepared a team in each zone to crack down on tobacco shops selling eatables and soft drinks. The decision came following the guidelines of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), which restricts selling of eatables at tobacco shops.

The municipal commissioner has issued orders to all eight zonal officials to survey all markets and residential areas in their zones and crack down on tobacco shops selling toffees and other eatables. The commissioner has written to the district administration to provide support to the drive.

A joint team of five departments-LMC, police, CMO, Food Safety and Drug Administration, state government and district administration-will raid these shops. While police have authority to impose a penalty of Rs 500-5,000 on tobacco shop owners selling eatables, FSDA department can even cancel licences of permanent shops.

LMC has the responsibility to remove shops running illegally on roadsides.

LMC's environment engineer Pankaj Bhushan said, "The drive is to prevent children from accessing tobacco shops. It is observed that while reaching out to these shops to buy chips, toffees and cold drinks, children also get access to tobacco products. To stop this and create awareness, LMC has launched the drive to remove eatables from these shops."

Courtesy:Times of India

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Hotels for COP7 guests declared tobacco-free by Delhi Govt

Three prominent hotels in the national capital, where the delegates of the ongoing anti-tobacco conference COP7 are staying, have been declared tobacco-free, in line with the Delhi governments campaign against its consumption.

Delhi Health department has written to the three hotels - Leela Ambience near Yamuna Sports Complex, Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn in Mayur Vihar - asking them to comply with the tobacco control laws and also appoint a nodal officer to check its consumption on their premises.

"You must be aware and just to remind you that the conference jointly organised by Government of India and WHO FCTC is being held at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida.

"Your hotel is one of the few hotels, officially selected for the stay of delegates who will distinguished political dignitaries and high rank officers of 180 countries.

"In larger public interest and also in view of COP7, you are requested to implement and strengthen the tobacco control laws as a part of Tobacco free Delhi initiative," Dr S K Arora, Additional Director (Health), said in a communique to the hotels.

The hotels have been asked to display the necessary tobacco-free zone boards at strategic points along with tobacco-free vehicle stickers in the taxis and coaches carrying the guests.

When contacted, Dr Arora said, "We have asked them to ensure there is no sale or promotion of tobacco products (both direct and surrogate both), use of e-cigarettes and hookah within the tobacco free zone area."

"We may also implement this measure in other hotels and restaurants of Delhi," he added.

He stressed that particles smaller than 2.5 micrometre (PM2.5) are major components of cigarettes smoke and can enter deep into lungs to cause serious health problems.

"It is worth mentioning that tobacco smoke is one of the leading cause for spreading environmental pollution. The PM2.5 mass emitted by a cigarette on an average is around 10-15 mg which can cause high indoor pollution if smoked at home or in a car," he said.

As per WHO data, in India around 50 per cent adults are exposed to second hand smoke at home and 29 per cent at public places.

Around 9 to 10 lakh people in India die every year because of tobacco consumption.

Source: India Today

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Kerala’s water transport becomes tobacco smoke-free

Kerala’s famed inland water transport that provides a cheap, efficient and pleasant mode of transport to over 25 million passengers a year has another feather to its cap — it is now completely tobacco smoke-free.

Reply to an RTI query filed with the State Water Transport Department reveals that all its 56 serviceable boats in Kerala have displayed ‘No Smoking’ signages as a measure of warning and protecting passengers from the ills of tobacco smoke.

These boats ply in the waterlogged districts of Alappuzha, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur and Kasargod.

Alappuzha district has 28 boats, accounting for 50 per cent of the total boats and servicing around 35,000 passengers a day.  The other boats are in Ernakulam (9); Kottayam (7); Kollam (4); Kasargod (2); Kannur (1) and 5 spare boats.

Shri Shaji V Nair, Director of Alappuzha-based State Water Transport Department, said, “We have taken strict measures to ensure that smoking is not permitted in any of the boats under the Department. This is done for two reasons: safeguard passengers from second-hand smoke and keep the water bodies free from cigarette and bidi stubs litter.”

Shri Nair stated that “the boat master who is the captain of the boat has been directed to keep a strict vigil. Special squads have been formed to inspect any cases of smoking onboard. Action is taken against the errant staff member if the inspection reveals inaction against any complaints of smoking in the boats.”

Shri Anilkumar Pandala, an expert in the transport sector, said, “Kerala’s water transport being smoke-free is a significant step forward towards achieving total smoke-free public places.”

Shri Pandala, who is Associate Vice President, IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd., noted that public transport in the state is mostly free of smoking. “We have a strict law that prohibits smoking in public places; it provides a strong foundation. Strict enforcement of the law and making it uniformly applicable to all is important.”

Shri Pandala also called upon enforcement officials to ensure that smoking is prohibited in public places such as bus stands and bus stops.

Smoking is prohibited in all public places under Section 4 of the Indian tobacco control law, COTPA, 2003. Public conveyances fall under the definition of a public place of this legislation. 

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Tobacco litter a challenge to a clean India: Environmental experts

Even as the Clean India campaign is making waves with both standalone and coordinated efforts in Kerala as across the country, acclaimed environmental experts  have called for no-holds-barred implementation of the ban on public smoking as a means to keep our cities, towns and villages clean and litter-free.

They contend that callously discarded cigarette stubs found abundantly in public places in violation of the smoking ban poses a challenge to dream of a clean India besides bringing the need for stricter implementation of laws to the fore.

Prof MK Prasad, noted environmental expert and educationist said, “While there are public discourses on the health impacts of tobacco use, its effect on the environment have come up for scant discussion in Kerala and India. Developed countries have woken up to this fact and have undertaken steps to identify the enormity of the problem. According to one estimate, the overall littering rate for cigarette butts in America is 65 per cent.”

“The non-biodegradable nature of cigarette butts, a hazardous solid waste, makes it a challenging area to address. The butts also contain dangerous chemicals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead. Stricter implementation of laws on public smoking will not only improve public health but also restrict the environmental damage caused from cigarette use,” Prof Prasad added.

A paper published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health cites that an estimated 1.69 billion pounds of butts are littered worldwide a year.

Adv. Harish Vasudevan, environmental law expert said, “Studies point out that tobacco refuse is a major source of litter on the planet. Filtered cigarettes offered as an alternative to reduce the amounts of nicotine and tar consumed are a mainstay with smokers now. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic slow to degrade.”

“Presence of cigarette stubs in public places provides cues for smoking. This major environmental and public health issue can be effectively controlled by implementing laws that prohibit smoking in public places. If sufficient multi-stakeholder efforts are not taken on time, it can pose a challenge to having a clean India,” Adv. Vasudevan added.

Indian tobacco control law COTPA, 2003 vide Section 4 prohibits smoking in all public places including public offices, educational institutions, public conveyances, restaurants, hotels, health institutions and all workplaces.

Highlighting how in-flight smoking has been effectively prohibited, Dr CN Mohanan, Retd., Scientist and Head, Environmental Sciences Division, Centre for Earth Science Studies here said that education, awareness generation and enforcement all have equal roles to play while addressing the cigarette litter issue.

“Policy backing, repetitive communication, and punishment for violators have made it possible to curb smoking during air travel. Similar measures will have to be taken to tackle cigarette littering in public places by enforcing laws against public smoking. Having a clean India is a collective dream; cigarette butt littering is something we cannot afford to ignore,” Dr Mohanan noted.

The Centre-State Rs 62,000 crore Clean India campaign launched by the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi aims to accomplish the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by October 2, 2019. Among others, the campaign envisages cent per cent collection and scientific processing, disposal, reuse and recycling of solid waste.

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Koolimadu: India's first tobacco free area

Even as dedicated efforts are on to make three districts of Kerala, viz., Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Kozhikode models in tobacco control by following the provisions laid out in Indian tobacco  control law, COTPA, 2003, here's an engaging story of Koolimadu in Kozhikode.

Reproducing the story carried by the India Today on 15 December 1996 that recounts how locals of Koolimadu turned their village into India's first tobacco free area.

While acknowledging that the current status of Koolimadu with regard to tobacco control has not been checked, the story is being carried here for the sheer energy it provides to Kerala's tobacco control efforts.

Weeding out tobacco

Inspired locals turn their village into India's first tobacco-free area

For most smokers, the statutory warning on cigarette packs means only puff and nonsense. But the 2,200 villagers of Koolimadu, 25 km from Kozhikode town, have taken it very seriously.

With the Kozhikode district administration declaring it tobacco-free, smoking has not just been banned in this tiny hamlet, you run the risk of being excommunicated for a day if you flout the ban.

At village gatherings now, tendrils of smoke curl up only from tea glasses. Wizened women no longer chew away at pukayila (tobacco leaves). And the village shops no longer stock the cigarettes or beedis that used to make them richer by about Rs.2,000 every day.

It was a death that sparked the campaign. In 1994, chain smoker Ahmed Kutty, 58, a regular at the popular village reading room, Akshara, died of cancer. And the founders of the reading room, E.A. Moideen and Kader, all smokers in arms, who learnt how cancer is linked to heavy smoking, decided to launch an anti-smoking movement in the village.

Says Kader, a smoker for 30 years: "Kutty's death came as a shock. His sudden demise, caused by smoking, was enough of a deterrent."

It wasn't easy. Die-hard smokers were initially not interested in a fresh lease of life just because it came smoke-free. And a lot of women - like Kader's compulsively pukayila-chewing mother, Ameena - felt they would much rather die than kick their addiction.

But the village elders, whose diktat runs in the 250-odd houses here, ensured that the campaign was a success. Explains Moideen: "We printed no-tobacco pledge cards and went to every house in the village and asked everyone to sign or put their thumb impression on them." Persuasion finally worked. As did Kutty's death.

The promise of a long, healthy life rather than a rasping early death was not enough to wean away smokers from their addiction for good. The supply had to be cut off at source. The campaigners approached the two village stores which sold about 300 packs of cigarettes and beedis every day and asked them not to replenish their stocks.

Says a shop owner, M. Khalil: "They bought whatever was there in the shop for Rs.300 and made a public bonfire. We thought we lost some good business but later realised that a healthy, smoke-free life is much more rewarding in the long run."

Next, the campaigners got in touch with the Kozhikode branch of the Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) - established by the Centre in November 1972, to mobilise rural youth for development work in villages - for guidelines on how to systematically eradicate tobacco from the villages.

Placards, festoons and banners ("Stop smoking, save family" and "Koolimadu is tobacco-free zone"), were put up. Banners at the village bus stop entreated travellers not to smoke while they were in the village.

Koolimadu residents who can't help lighting up risk being excommunicated for a day. But this punishment has not had to be enforced yet. 

The inveterate smoker, of course, has only to walk about a kilometre to either Nairkuzhi village in the north, Mavoor village in the south or the banks of the river Chaliyar in the south and east to enjoy a smoke.

This also means that the anti-tobacco campaign has not caught on in any of the other villages. Neither does the district administration have any plans to mobilise such campaigns elsewhere in the area.

But inside Koolimadu, smoking remains strictly a no-no. Says local civil engineer K. Abdullah, 29: "We have groups of youth to monitor the ban." Fortunately, according to Kozhikode NYK coordinator M. Anil Kumar, the punishment of being excommunicated for a day for defying the ban has not had to be enforced as yet.

Ultimately, the effort to banish tobacco may turn out to be the healthiest investment Koolimadu residents have made till now.

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