Govt aims to make city smoke-free by year-end

If all goes well,Delhi will be a smoke-free city by the end of this year,much ahead of the Commonwealth Games deadline.

If all goes well,Delhi will be a smoke-free city by the end of this year,much ahead of the Commonwealth Games deadline. The Delhi government has launched the Say No to Tobacco Campaign and the Health department has formed eight raiding squads to stop smoking in public places in the city.

These squads have already conducted 15,033 raids in public places and have fined 10,456 persons. In total,Rs 10,73,743 have been realised in fines.

The packaging industry will implement government guidelines by May 31 this year. We have committed to making Delhi a smoke-free zone by the end of 2009. This means nobody will be allowed to smoke in public places, Delhi health minister Kiran Walia said.

The smoke free Delhi project is being executed in collaboration with the Bloomberg initiative,a group of international organisations like the WHO,International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases,Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids,World Lung Foundation,Centre for Disease Control,USA and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The government has identified 10 mega JJ clusters in five districts of Delhi,two in each district,for a door-to-door awareness programme against use of tobacco. This action plan will be implemented with the help of NGOs.

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