Chandigarh bans hookah bars to contain coronavirus
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 13
To prevent the spread of coronavirus, the UT Administration has imposed a ban on hookah bars in the city with immediate effect.
For 60 days
- The order will come into force from the intervening night of October 13 and 14 and will be in force for a period of 60 days.
- Any person found violating the order will be punished under Section 188 of the IPC.
An order issued by District Magistrate Mandip Singh Brar states that hookah bars are operational in Chandigarh in a clandestine way, which are serving flavoured hookahs, including tobacco molasses containing nicotine, which is highly injurious to health and at times there is a suspicion that apart from tobacco, other harmful narcotic chemicals are also mixed with tobacco molasses served in these hookah bars.
“Hookah in many of these bars is being smoked or consumed by people or customers through a common bowl, pipe and hose having mouth piece, which is susceptible to physical mouth-to-mouth touch of many persons, thus posing danger to human life, health and safety by becoming a cause of as well as leading to the transmission and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Chandigarh,” the order read.
He said the practice needed to checked immediately.
