Andhra Pradesh: Dvarakathirumala as a no smoke zone.. The use of tobacco products is prohibited in the vicinity of the temple..

After Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.. Dwaraka Tirumala Kshetra is popularly known as Little Tirupati. Devotees from both the Telugu states and other places come to this temple where Sri Venkateswara Swamy is standing. As it is a spiritual center, the authorities are taking measures to ensure that the devotees who come here spend their time in a more peaceful environment. Similar to Tirumala, the authorities have decided to ban smoking in Dwarka Tirumala Kshetra as well. District Collector Prasanna Venkatesh has issued orders to make Dwarkathiruma a smoke free zone. A meeting has already been arranged with the temple authorities in this regard. The authorities have decided to ban the use of tobacco products within 100 meters of the Devasthanam hill and below the hill. In this regard, the temple staff will soon be trained for 21 days. Special surveillance will be done on the consumption and sale of tobacco products. There will be extensive publicity on the law banning smoking in public places. The staff will be trained first to create awareness among the devotees about the ban on smoking. Besides imposing fines on those who violated the rules, the authorities issued orders to register cases against them.

In fact smoking in public places is prohibited under Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Tobacco Products Prohibition Act 2003. Violation of this rule will be fined up to Rs.200. Also, as per Section 5, advertising on tobacco products is prohibited. Anyone who violates this provision will be punished with a fine of up to two years or a fine of one thousand rupees, in some cases both fine and imprisonment. Section 6A also prohibits the sale of chewing tobacco products in the vicinity of universities.

Section 6B also makes it an offense to sell or procure the sale of tobacco products to children under 18 years of age. However, tobacco is being sold freely in some places. On the other hand, as temples are public places, open smoking is prohibited by law. Apart from this, the Eluru district authorities have decided to implement the ban on smoking in the vicinity of the temple from now on.

Also read these

Check out more Andhra Pradesh news..