July 25, 2026 07:09 pm (IST)
Smoking in public places banned in Darjeeling
Kolkata, Aug 16 (IBNS): The local administration has strictly banned smoking in public places in West Bengal's hill town Darjeeling, starting from Monday, officials said.
Publishing a notice last week, the District Magistrate (DM) has directed the local administration to strictly maintain the rule and to take strict action against the rule-breakers.
"There is already an act namely- Cigarettes or Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003 or COTPA, which prohibits advertisement or promotion of tobacco products and smoking in public places as well," an administrative official told IBNS.
"Anti-tobacco campaign has been started and local police have been directed to implement the rule here and slap 200-5000 rupees fine on the rule-breakers," he further added.
Darjeeling's adjoining hill city- Sikkim's capital Gangtok- has already implemented the rule strictly.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
BJP breaks silence after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over NEET row
Sat, Jul 25 2026
'Victory of democracy': Sonam Wangchuk congratulates Gen Z as Dharmendra Pradhan resigns after month-long NEET protests
Sat, Jul 25 2026
'Democracy has triumphed': CJP celebrates as Dharmendra Pradhan quits, warns Centre 'Don't mess with cockroaches'
Sat, Jul 25 2026
Centre buckles under CJP-led NEET protests; Dharmendra Pradhan quits as Education Minister
Sat, Jul 25 2026
Dharmendra Pradhan quits amid NEET paper leak protests
Sat, Jul 25 2026
'Don't shift him, sack him': Rahul Gandhi's blunt message to PM Modi over Dharmendra Pradhan
Sat, Jul 25 2026
