Bhopal: Hookah Smoking Continues Unabated Despite Prez Nod To Amendment Bill

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A week after Madhya Pradesh Hookah Bar Amendment Bill received President Draupadi Murmu’s nod on June 8, hookah smoking remains rampant in lounges of Bhopal.

Free Press reported hookah lounges located in Indrapuri, MP Nagar and other areas and found hookah lounges are being run with impunity. When asked, owners of lounges said that as no written notice had been issued to them to stop the practice. Police crime branch officials said they won’t be able to act unless bill becomes an act.

“Hookah smoking will go on till July 10, said Kashyap, the manager of CAFE LPK in MP Nagar, as the Assembly session is slated to begin on that date. Same was the saga at lounge named Socialite Seven located in MP Nagar.

When police laxity was pointed out, Ishant Sharma, the TI at MP Nagar police station, said raids were conducted regularly. He added that he would send a police team to the lounges soon for a crackdown on them. Though Free Press informed police about illegal hookah smoking at lounges in MP Nagar and stayed at the spot for 40 minutes, the police did not arrive.

When additional commissioner of police (law and order) Awadhesh Goswami was contacted, he said that he was oblivious of such activities at hookah lounges in MP Nagar. He assured of stopping them as soon as possible.