Tobacco consumption to be curbed in Amritsar

Chewing tobacco and spitting on walls may soon be a thing of the past in Punjab with the state government declaring Amritsar and Rupnagar (Ropar) as 'tobacco-free districts' from August 15, Amritsar-based Chief Parliamentary Secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu said here today.

There is already a ban on smoking in public places in the city and Executive Magistrates have been deputed to nab those violating the order, officials said.

The district administration in the last one week collected a fine of Rs 36,830 from over 240 people who were smoking in public place, they said.

Akal Takht (highest Sikh temporal seat) head Gurbachan Singh has already signed a pledge to save Punjab from the menace of tobacco and has written to Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandakh Committee (SGPC) directing it to communicate with Punjab Government regarding ban on sale of 'Gutka' in Punjab.