Soon, special officers to ensure smoking-free public places

PANJIM, OCT 30
If you are a smoker, please watch out! You might be booked for smoking in a public place. The designated officers to enforce legislation prohibiting use of tobacco and related products will be in place shortly.
Atmaram Deshpande, SP Security, Special Cell while speaking at a media workshop on Saturday here said the designated officers will be appointed for enforcing the legislation and the notification in this respect will be issued soon.
In November, each police station will have a designated officer not less than a rank of police sub-inspector, he said.
The Control of Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) prohibits smoking in hotels, restaurants, workplaces, shopping malls, cinema halls, educational institutions and libraries, hospitals, auditorium, open auditorium, amusement centers, stadium, railway station and bus stop.
Earlier, while responding to a question Deshpande pointed out that complete ban on tobacco in Goa will not work unless there is comprehensive legislation coming from the Centre.
Where’s the ban on Gutka?
Jyothi Sardessai, Deputy Director of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while participating in the discussion said porous borders have made it difficult to implement the ban on gutka even as they conduct regular raids.
While Gutka is banned in Goa it is not in Karnataka and Maharashtra and easily smuggled here.
However, Sardessai said since implementation of the Act, FDA has conducted 90 raids, booked 73 cases and collected over Rs 29 lakhs as fine.
Pamela Mascarenhas, deputy director, Department of Tourism and Dr Ravindra Nadkarni, State Nodal Officer, Directorate of Health also participated in panel discussion on role of the government and challenges in the implementation of tobacco control laws.
The media sensitization workshop on tobacco control initiatives was organized by Voluntary Health Association of Goa (VHAG) in association with National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) and Goa Civic and Consumer Action Network (GOACAN).