City principals sceptical in fight against tobacco…..Shreya Bhandary
Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the BMC to smoke out all tobacconists around educational institutions,providing a great impetus to principals of schools and colleges campaigning against hawkers selling cigarettes and paan outside their institutions.
They are,however,sceptical about how far the authorities will be successful in the exercise and they fear that after being evicted,the hawkers would be back to the same spots within a few days.
Principal of Rizvi Springfield School in Bandra Lalitha Hariharan had lodged a complaint with the BMC against a person who sold icegolas outside their school every day.We learnt that the man might even be peddling drugs.After I lodged a complaint,the authorities did get rid of him but within a few weeks,he was back.This time,he did not sell his wares in front of the school but stood at the end of the lane,drawing equal number of students, said Hariharan.
A few years ago,the situation was similar at St Andrews College,also in Bandra.For a solution,the authorities sought help from the local MLA,asking him to take steps to get rid of the paan-beedi shop.Even after the complaints that we lodged and the pleas we made with the authorities,the shop owner is still there, said Marie Fernandes,principal of the college.Echoing Hariharan,she also said even if actions are taken against them,the hawkers and cigarette-sellers were back in business within days of being evicted.
All the principals agreed that it was important to keep a watch so that the sellers did not return.We have knocked on the doors of all the authorities but to no avail.Only after we approach an MLA,are steps taken.But the sellers are back in a few days.There should be a mechanism to keep these hawkers at bay, said the principal of a south Mumbai college.