96% Mumbaikars vote to stub out smoking in public
Mumbai: When the ban on smoking at work and public places comes into effect on October 2, there wont be any protests here. The citys residents, along with those in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, have voted in a survey to indicate that they are overwhelmingly in favour of the Centres plan to introduce smoke-free zones.
The four-city survey conducted, between August 9 and 24, by Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health found that 92% of those surveyed were in favour of smoke-free India. In Mumbai, 96% of the respondents supported the legislation.
People have clearly stated that they are against smoking in all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars, said Dr P C Gupta at a press conference on Thursday. The survey also found that Indians viewed second-hand smoke as a health risk. Nine out of ten surveyed knew that exposure to second-hand smoke is a serious (84%) or moderate (14%) health hazard for the non-smoker, he added.
Health experts are enthused with the surveys findings, given the fact that support for anti-smoking measures has only increased in citiescountries that banned smoking a few years ago. When California banned smoking in 1998, overall community approval for the move was 65.2%. Two years later, the rate of approval had increased to 72.6%, said Dr S Shastri, head of preventive oncology at Tata Memorial Hospital, quoting a study published in the Journal of Public Health.
Asked if the legislation would be successful, Dr Gupta said, There is overall support for the notification. Moreover, the Centre is launching a public campaign. Each city has a local programme targeting schools, workplaces, etc.
THE RULE BOOK
The Centre has for the first time spelt out what the ban on smoking at public places entails.
THE RULE BOOK
The Centre has for the first time spelt out what the ban on smoking at public places entails.
Interestingly, it has also defined what a smoking corner is.
The Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008
PUBLIC PLACES have been defined as areas where the general public can visit. For example: an auditorium, hospitals, amusement centres, restaurants court buildings, educational institutions, libraries, public conveyances, work places, shopping malls and cinema halls, etc
OPEN SPACES are excluded but not an open auditorium, a stadium, railway station or a bus stop and similar places
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE:
RULES FOR A SMOKING AREA
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE:
Hotels with 30 rooms or more, restaurants with sitting capacity of 30 people or more and airports can have a smoking area on the condition that they comply with the rules
RULES FOR A SMOKING AREA
Smoking space means a separately ventilated smoking room
Physically separated (having four closed and full walls)
Having an entrance with doors that automatically close
Having a ventilation system that ensures that air is discharged directly outside and not re-circulated in non-smoking areas
Such smoking areas shall not be established at the entrance or exit of the hotel, restaurant and the airport and shall be distinctively marked as smoking areas. They shall be established in areas that need not be accessed by the public
No other services to be provided in the designated smoking areas