Looking at the growing problem of people smoking at public places in Jammu including common areas in the restaurants and bars, it has become necessary for the men in Khaki to curb this menace effectively as smoking in public places has been declared as an offence by the concerned quarters since long.
In this context, reportedly Srinagar Police has launched an anti-smoking campaign in Lal Chowk area of the city and has imposed on-the-spot fines of Rs 200 on individuals caught smoking in public areas. This has become a necessity to curb smoking in public areas and impose the ban on puffing out smoke rings in letter and spirit.
It is pertinent to mention that similar anti-smoking drives have been reported earlier also in the summer capital of the UT but the same have not been witnessed very often in the winter capital of the UT.
Reportedly, in order to implement the smoking ban, police officers were seen fining offenders, and emphasizing on the importance of following the law to ensure cleaner and healthier public environments.
All said and done, a decisive action in this matter is the need of the hour because the government cannot allow the smoking community to put the lives of non-smokers into deep danger. It is rather important that the government should come up with a rigorous drive to educate all about the dangers involved in the habit of smoking because it seems that the warning on the packets of cigarettes is not serving the purpose adequately. All said and done, it has become vital that police in Jammu should also take similar initiatives as taken by their counterparts in Srinagar.
The officials in Srinagar have taken promising steps by imposing fines on those who violate the smoking ban thus sending a strong message about its resolve to end this malpractice. It has become necessary that in Jammu also, the local authorities should take steps to stop people from smoking in public by conducting surprise checks and imposing stipulated fines.
After knowing the drawbacks of smoking as well as passive smoking it has become necessary to maintain a smoke-free environment in public areas if not in the private spaces because families in which elders smoke in presence of their offspring and other younger members, chances are there that they might fall sick due to unintentional smoking, which according to experts is more harmful than the active smoking.
