After hookah parlors banned in Delhi, now it’s Maharashtra’s turn.
The Maharashtra government has put a ban on hookah parlors in the state with immediate effect.
Maharashtra is the second state after Gujarat to enforce the ban with such an immediate effect.
This amendment is applied to Tobacco products and cigarettes.
The bill states, “No person shall, either on his own or on behalf of any other person, open or run any hookah bar in any place including the eating house.”
Infringement of the act leads to punishment with a minimum imprisonment of 1 year which can be extended to 3 years, also with a minimum fine Rs. 50,000 which can be extended to Rs. 1, 00,000.
“Since the notification has been issued, the ban comes into effect immediately. It will be the responsibility of the police to ensure the ban is implemented,” said an official from the home department
The home department was planning to monitor the hookah parlors, but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis decided to put a blanket ban after the fire at Kamla Mills in December 2017, the fire took 14 people’s lives.
Investigators had revealed that flying embers from hookah had sparked the deadly fire.
