CM Manohar Lal Khattar imposes ban on Hookah in bars, hotels in Haryana
Haryana CM declared a ban on serving hookah to customers in hotels, restaurants, bars and commercial establishments throughout the state.
Haryana: The Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, declared a ban on serving hookah to customers in hotels, restaurants, bars and commercial establishments throughout the state. However this bans does not extend to the use of traditional hookahs in rural areas.
The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of a state-level ‘Cyclothon,’ which was part of a campaign against drug addiction in Karnal, as per an official statement.
This decision comes after months of discussions on the subject, initiated when Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta called for a ban on serving hookah in hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs in the state.
In May, Gupta wrote to CM Khattar, expressing deep concern over the prevalence of hookah smoking in such establishments, referring to it as a “burning petrol”.
CM Khattar also took the opportunity to promote cycling and eco-friendly transportation during the event. He announced the Haryana Shahi Vikas Pradhikaran program, which involves licensed builders gifting a bicycle to protery owners along with property registry papers. In cases where the property owners already possesses a bicycle, they will receive Rs 3,000 in lieu of the cycle.
Khattar had flagged off the Cyclothon on September 1 and it concluded on Monday.
The Cyclothon, which covered approximately 2,000 kilometers, has served as a powerful platform to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of drug addiction, the chief minister said.
He emphasized that while the Cyclothon may have concluded, the battle against drug addiction is far from over, and public awareness efforts must continue for at least a year to completely eradicate this menace.
Ms Kalinga