Jammu:

The Jammu and Kashmir administration Saturday banned the sale, possession and consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the holy town of Katra, which houses the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, officials said.

Reasi District Magistrate Vishesh Mahajan said the initiative, launched on the World No-Tobacco Day, aims to maintain the sanctity of the religious place visited by lakhs of pilgrims every year.

The administration has already banned the sale, possession, and consumption of meat and liquor in Katra and adjoining areas.

“Under Section 144, we have imposed a ban on the stocking, sale, and consumption of cigarettes, gutkha and other forms of tobacco in the area starting from Numaee and Panthal check posts via Tara Court track up to Bhavan,” Mahajan told reporters.

“The ban is an extension of the existing prohibition on the sale and consumption of liquor and meat,” he said.

Mahajan said the move aims to keep the Katra base camp, the track and the entire area tobacco free.

Katra has been witnessing a rush of more than 30,000-40,000 pilgrims on a daily basis these days.

The cave shrine in Trikuta hills in Jammu’s Reasi district was visited by more than 93.50 lakh pilgrims in 2023 — the highest footfall in a decade.

According to the shrine officials, it surpassed the 2013 figure of 93.24 lakh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

To tackle the threat of young people getting addicted to tobacco, the Karnataka government is planning to ban hookah bars and increase the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21.

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said the government plans to amend the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act to bring about these changes. 

After a meeting with health department officials on Tuesday, the minister said that, apart from schools, the sale and consumption of tobacco products is banned around temples, mosques, childcare centres and hospitals as well. 

Mr Rao said the steps are being planned as youngsters are increasingly getting attracted to hookah bars, which has a negative impact on their health. The state government will also increase the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21 years, he added.

“We have discussed bringing in amendments to the Act…We have discussed issuing a government order in this regard in the days to come. The wording and legal aspects will be discussed and decided,” news agency PTI quoted the minister as saying. 

Expressing concern over the future of many young people being put at risk because of their addiction to drugs, Mr Rao said the state has taken a firm decision to root out illegal activities.

Pointing out that addiction to tobacco products like cigarettes often leads to drug and substance abuse. “Tobacco use laid the foundation for all this and so we have started to correct it at the source,” he said, adding that local organisations and the police department will be roped in to help implement and enforce the amendments.