SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 14: Despite global recognition of Jharkhand in tobacco control, there is no government ban on the use of tobacco in the Deoghar-Basukinath Shrawani Mela this year.
Since 2017 (barring 2020-21), the month-long Deoghar-Basukinath Shrawani Mela had been declared ‘No Tobacco zone’ under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003 every year.
But in this year’s Shrawani Mela (July 12 to August 13), the state government has not issued notification of a ‘No Tobacco zone’ so far. Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Singh, who holds the health department also, could not be contacted but senior officers of the health department admitted that no notification has been issued to date.
Ignorance of the state government has surprised anti-tobacco crusaders as the World Health Organization (WHO) had given Jharkhand the global award of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2022 in May.
However, Deoghar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Manjunath Bhajantri when contacted on Wednesday evening said that the district administration has done elaborate arrangements for the implementation of COTPA 2003 in the Mela with the proper campaign of awareness among ‘Kanwars’. Civil Surgeon Dr PK Shahi has also been directed to set up flying squads for action against COTPA violators.
During Shrawani Mela, over 1 lakh devotees across the country visit Babadham every day. On Mondays, the footfall of devotees crosses over 2.15 lakhs.
Devotees of Deoghar Shrawani Mela, who collect Gangajal at Sultanganj of Bihar and offer the same to Baba Baidyanath after covering a 105 km long path, use Chilham, Ganja, Charas and other tobacco items on large scale as Prasad of Lord Shiva.
In 2017, the then additional chief secretary of health department Sudhir Tripathi issued a notification for declaring Shrawani Mela as a No Tobacco zone for the first time and directed the deputy commissioners (DC) of Deoghar and Dumka to ensure strict implementation of COTPA during the month-long Mela.
In 2018, the Deoghar district had set a national record with the highest collection of fines for violating COTPA in a single month. As per the official record, a total of 5001 people were issued Chalan and a fine of around Rs 1 lakh was realized from them between July 28 to August 26.
Rahul Kumar Sinha (now Ranchi DC) was the then deputy commissioner of Deoghar and had done large-scale postering for information of Kanwars against no tobacco zone from Jharkhand entry point Dumka to Babadham.
When Dr Nitin Kulkarni became the health secretary, he continued the notification regarding declaring Shrawani Mela as a ‘No Tobacco Zone’ and focused on an awareness programme.
