In a crackdown on the city’s hookah bar, CM Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government has asked the police and the municipal corporation to immediately cancel their licenses. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that hookah smoking was not allowed in even smoking zones in the national capital. The order comes weeks after BJP-SAD MLA and Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee Manjinder Singh Sirsa started a campaign which sought the ban on Delhi based hookah bars.
Jain has said Delhi Police and municipal corporations should immediately cancel the licences of restaurants or eateries having hookah bars. He said that in a recent notification of the Indian government dated May 23, 2017, from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, completely prohibits use of hookah in the smoking zones also.
The government said the state tobacco control cell has conducted several raids in various parts of the city. The government alleged that despite several letters to Delhi Police and civic bodies in last four years, no action was initiated against these “illegally” running hookah bars to save the younger generation from the harmful effects of tobacco. The Government statement also said that People consider hookah as a safe alternative to smoking without realising that it is even more harmful and has an adverse impact on their health.