05 March,2011 07:13 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth
As part of its sporadic drive that has resurfaced, civic body cracks its whip on the hubble-bubble
The BMC has clamped down on hookah parlours once again. In the last 15 days, it has prosecuted and fined over 25 suburban hookah parlours.
The action was taken after residents in the vicinity of the parlours complained about the popularity of the "noxious habit" among college students.
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As such, the assistant commissioners of all the wards have been asked to act against restaurants that serve food and hookah in the same chamber.
"This is a continuous drive which has been going on for over a year. But this time around, we have been specially instructed to act tough.
We are not only issuing them a warning notice but also fining them," said a BMC official from H-West Ward.
Two years ago, the then mayor, Shubha Raul, had started a drive against hookah joints in the city. Then union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who had banned smoking in public places from October 2, 2008, supported the crackdown.
A senior BMC official said, "The Corporation does not have the power to shut down hookah parlours as there are no related provisions in the BMC Act.
The only way is to revoke their eatery licences but there are high chances of their mushrooming back." Owners of hookah joints feel the prosecution is unwarranted, as there are no laws regulating hookahs.
Rahul Kanal, who owns Frontier Curries in Andheri, said, "When there's a licence for serving wine, why can't there be one for hookahs? We are ready to pay the fees but the government is reluctant in coming up with such a licence," he said.
As a matter of fact, hookah joints are weaving their way through loopholes in the Smoking (Prohibition in Enclosed Public Places) Act 2003, whichu00a0 allows smoking in separate rooms in eating houses with over 30 seats.
"We are prosecuted under smoking laws. But, firstly, cigarette smoking laws cannot be applied to us. And secondly, even if they are, the BMC is cracking down on eateries with a separate smoking zone. This is unreasonable," Kanal added.
What's a better poison?
The carbon monoxide to nicotine ratio in a hookah is 50:1. For a cigarette, it is 16:1, thereby making hookahs more harmful than cigarettes.
A gram of hookah tobacco contains 802 mg of tar,
2.96 mg of nicotine, and
143 mg of carbon monoxide.
The findings are from a study on the chemicals found in hookah smoke by scientists
A Shih-adeh and R Saleh.
And Then there u00a0were none?
As per BMC's health department, there were 59 hookah bars in the city of which three were shut down in 2009 when Raul started her anti-hookah drive. Out of the 56 remaining, 30 were shut following BMC action last year.
Today, around 26 are operational. Officials cannot confirm the figure because following shutdown the joints sprout up again. The civic body has informed Mumbai Police to act on the parlours still functional.
