The Hindu 09.12.2009
Corporation cracks down on smoking in public places
Special Correspondent
| Violators will have to pay spot fine or will be handed over to police |
— Photo: M. Periasamy. 
INTENSIVE DRIVE: A Coimbatore Corporation health wing staff member tells the public to desist from smoking in public places during a drive at the town bus stand at Gandhipuram on Tuesday.
COIMBATORE: With the objective of turning Coimbatore into a ‘no-smoking’ city by January 2010, the Coimbatore Corporation has begun an intensive crackdown on smoking in public places.
Those caught smoking in public places such as bus stands and cinemas will have to cough up Rs. 200 in fine, or they will be handed over to the police.
The Corporation is putting up a number of signage across the city to warn people of the ill-effects of smoking, both active and second-hand (passive). The civic body is also warning people of stringent action that is provided for by the Control of Tobacco Products Act, 2004 and the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.
Led by Assistant City Health Officer R. Sumathi, Rapid Response Teams of the Corporation’s City Health Department are swooping on smokers in bus stands, railway stations, cinemas and other areas listed as public places under the Act.
As per the Act, the public places include workplaces, shopping malls, airports, bus stands, railway stations, hotels, cinemas, shops and restaurants.
Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra has allotted vehicles for the teams to move about quickly in the city to carry out the drive effectively. According to Dr. Sumathi, the aim is to achieve 100 per cent success in the drive by January 2010. About 10 health officers of local bodies in other parts of the State are here to study the ongoing drive.
On spotting people smoking in public places, the health teams are imposing Rs. 200 fine on them and explaining to them the ill-effects of smoking and also how the smoke from the cigarette and the one exhaled by smokers affect the non-smokers nearby.
On Monday and Tuesday, the teams carried out surprise checks in cinemas. “Intervals are the time when people step out for smoking. Though rules forbid this in cinemas, smoking is still allowed.” Dr. Sumathi says.
Though one of the theatres had put up “no smoking” boards, those who came to view films smoked cigarettes during interval. The manager of the cinema at Ramnagar was pulled up by the health officials. “The Act says clearly that Rs. 200 per smoker can be collected as fine from the management of any public place that allows people to smoke,” Dr. Sumathi says.
“We are telling owners of shops, hotels and tea stalls that they will have to pay hefty fines if they allow anyone to smoke on their premises. Stickers that carry a warning against smoking and conveying the message of the drive are being pasted across the city,” she says.
On Tuesday, the drive began with a sensitisation-cum-crackdown exercise at the town bus stand at Gandhipuram.
“People who come out in the morning every day for a walk in many areas in the city, including the bus stand area, complain that smoking robs them of fresh air that they actually look for during exercise,” the health official says.
The health teams also found two students (of Class X and XI) of a Corporation school smoking along a road. The headmaster of the school was informed immediately and asked to speak to the parents of the boys.
