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The hills have done what the plains have failed to achieve — a ban on smoking in public. While the prohibition has been in force since 2003, not a single district has been able to achieve the feat so far. Four districts, however, have taken an initiative to prevent smokers from lighting up indiscriminately.
On Thursday, the district administration declared Darjeeling district as the first smoke free district of West Bengal. The famous mall has been a smoking-free zone for a few years now. In Kolkata, not a single conviction has happened so far. Since smoking was banned in public places, the Darjeeling district administration has penalized 105 people found for violating the law that came into effect in the three hills sub-divisions from August 15, 2016.
Officials of the district administration expressed satisfaction with the progress and also cooperation of the hills citizens. "Since we started the ban, we have got positive response from the people. Of course there will be cases when someone will not heed the law. But, we are trying to deal with it in the best possible way. So far 105 people have been fined Rs.200 each for violating the ban on smoking in public places," said Anurag Srivastava, the Darjeeling DM.
The declaration as made on the basis of a third party assessment conducted by MANT - an NGO - from January 17 to 21, based on the guidelines developed by Johns Hopkins University, the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the Center for Tobacco Free Kids of the United States of America.
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