SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 14: Jharkhand health department has finally declared the month-long Shrawani Mela as a ’smoke-free zone.’
In this regard, the Director in-Chief of the State Health Department Dr Krishna Kumar has written to the deputy commissioners (DC) of Deoghar and Dumka for initiating steps to make Babadham and Basukinath Shrawani Mela smoke-free under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Product Act (COTPA) 2003.
The notification of the health department came today within 5 hours of the story which lagatar24.com had published today morning.
(Read the story here- Deoghar: No ban on tobacco yet in Shrawani Mela this year)
Today is the second day of Shrawani Mela. Official sources in the health department said that the notification was issued after Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Singh, who also holds charge of the health department, took cognizance of the story published by lagatar24.com and ordered to issue the letter in this regard. The letter was then issued today in the afternoon with a back date signature of July 12.
This is the first time that the director-in-chief of health has issued a letter declaring ‘Smoke-Free Shrawani Mela.’ Earlier, the principal secretary himself issued this notification.
In 2017, the then additional chief secretary of health Sudhir Kumar issued the first notification and after him, Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni, the then principal secretary of health, continued till 2019. Then the mela was not allowed in 2020 and 2021 due to the Corona pandemic.
However, Director-in-Chief Dr Krishna Kumar in his letter to Deoghar and Dumka DC has said that smoking in public places is banned under Section 4 of COTPA. Shrawani Mela comes under the radius of public place definition.
“So keeping this in mind, take steps in the respective district for ensuring ‘Smoke-Free’ zone, display signboards in the Mela near Baba Baidyanathdham and Basukinath temples to inform people about it,” said the director in-chief health.
Dr Kumar has also directed to put up anti-tobacco hoardings and posters on large scale in the Mela for awareness of devotees about the fallout of using tobacco products. The DIC said that every year, 13 lakh people in the country die due to the use of tobacco products. This is is a matter of concern and it could only be checked by launching an awareness campaign among people.
As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey report, in Jharkhand, 38.9% of people use tobacco products. The state health department has aimed to bring it down to below 25% by 2025.
