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The Himachal Pradesh government has intensified its crackdown on illegal Sheesha (Hukkah) service across Shimla as part of the ongoing Tobacco Free Youth Campaign (TFYC) 3.0, launched by the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on October 13. A coordinated, multi-department enforcement drive was carried out by the State Flying Squad on Saturday, targeting prominent cafes and restaurants allegedly flouting the law.
Teams from the Health Department, Health Safety & Regulation, Food and Drug Administration, Excise & Taxation Department and the Police jointly inspected several establishments. Officials found that many venues were discreetly offering Sheesha (Hukkah), often under the guise of flavoured molasses or so-called herbal and nicotine-free variants. However, authorities seized multiple packets that explicitly mentioned tobacco and nicotine content but lacked the mandatory statutory health warnings, constituting a violation of Section 7 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. Cases have been registered under relevant COTPA provisions, and all confiscated materials have been submitted to the court for further proceedings, officials said. Highlighting the health risks, Dr. Ravinder Kumar, State Programme Officer of the National Tobacco Control Programme, said scientific evidence shows that a single 45-minute Sheesha session can equal the smoke exposure of nearly 100 cigarettes. He added that hookah use delivers high levels of carbon monoxide and carcinogenic tar, up to 25 times that of a cigarette. At the same time, the deep, prolonged inhalation pattern increases vulnerability to severe health conditions. The shared use of Sheesha pipes also raises the risk of contracting communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and herpes, he warned. Mission Director of the National Health Mission, Himachal Pradesh, Pradeep Kumar Thakur, IAS, said the enforcement drive is part of a wider strategy to curb the rising trend of Sheesha use among youth, particularly in hotspots such as Kasol, Manali, Shimla, Dharamshala and Solan. He stressed that so-called herbal or no-nicotine variants are misleading and harmful, and that all Sheesha products fall squarely under COTPA regulations regardless of how they are marketed. Thakur said the state will further strengthen monitoring through a three-tier Flying Squad system at the State, District and Block levels to ensure continuous enforcement and protect communities from tobacco-related harms. (ANI)
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