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Hotels, restaurants in Chandigarh to become smoke-free

Dinkar Farwaha - Chandigarh

Hotels and restaurants in Chandigarh are tightening their belts with the city set to become the first one in the country to be officially declared smoke-free. The new ruling, enforced from July 15 this year, will ensure that smoking in public places and public utilities is banned.

However, the public utilities will be allowed to set up a separate area for smokers. Vivek Atray, director (PR), Chandigarh Administration, said, "Smoking will not be permitted in hotels with less than 30 rooms. It will be compulsory for other hotels with more than 30 rooms to have separate smoking zones."

Some hotels in the city are already following these norms. Sandeep Makroo, sales manager of Taj Chandigarh, claimed, "We have been following the rule for quite some time now. Smoking in our hotel is permitted only in designated areas." Other hotels will be following suit. RP Singla, general manager of Mount View Hotel Chandigarh, said, "We will take the new ruling very seriously and will ensure that guests smoke only in the designated areas of our hotel." It will be interesting to see whether pubs and discotheques will also be covered in the ban.