GFX
The Mysuru District Tobacco Control Cell has booked a total of 6,595 cases under various provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products 2003 during the last six years in the district and collected a penalty of more than ₹9 lakh.
The offenders can be penalised upto a maximum of ₹200 for each offence, he said.
The officials of all the 44 law and order police stations in Mysuru district including 18 police stations falling in the purview of Mysuru City Police Commissionerate carried out raids against violation of COTPA 2003 in their respective jurisdictions on Tuesday and penalised the offenders.
Meanwhile, the places of tourist interest in Mysuru, which were declared tobacco-free on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on Tuesday, will have to remain tobacco-free from henceforth.
The Mysuru District Tobacco Cell has asked the Deputy Director of Tourism in Mysuru district to declare all the places of tourist interest in Mysuru as tobacco-free from May 31. “The authorities will have to maintain their status as tobacco-free from now onwards”, Mr. Shivakumar said.
Oral cancer screening was also conducted at different community health centres and government hospitals in rural areas of different taluks of the district on Tuesday to mark the World No Tobacco Day.
Earlier in the day, Member Secretary of Mysuru District Legal Services Authority Devaraj Bhute flagged off a jatha from Kote Anjaneya Swamy Temple near Mysuru Palace North Gate to the Deputy Commissioner’s office to mark the occasion. He was accompanied by Mysuru district Health Officer Prasad.
Mr. Bhute, who is also a senior civil judge, emphasised the need to create awareness among the general public about the harmful effects of smoking.
The jatha, which was organised jointly by Mysuru Zilla Panchayat, Mysuru District Health and Family Welfare Department, Mysuru District Surveillance Unit and Mysuru District Tobacco Control Cell, comprised students and faculty of various medical colleges, who held aloft banners cautioning the general public against the harmful effects of tobacco consumption. The participants in the jatha also distributed handbills against smoking to the public.
