Survey: Hookah bars more polluted than dumping grounds

In reference to the smoking ban that came into force on Oct. 2, 2008, Dr P C Gupta, member of the voluntary organisation Healis, said, "The particulate matter (2.5 microns) in all the venues where smoking is still on despite the ban averaged to 363 Ug/m3, which is worse than the dumping grounds in Mumbai. The Deonar dumping ground for instance records 169.5 Ug/m3."

He informed further that the hookah bars which did not comply with the smoking ban recorded 707.04 Ug/m3 levels. This is an alarming count since tobacco carries several carcinogens.

The groups- Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Salaam Bombay Foundation, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and Action Against Tobacco are all working jointly to make sure that the smoking ban is getting well implemented by the hospitality industry.

Survey highlights
In total 50 bars/restaurants/pubs/hookah parlours were surveyed, and the following levels of particulate matter (PM) were found out:

• Restaurants: 55.36 Ug/m3
• Pubs: 58.96 Ug/m3
• Country liquor bars: 707.04
• Hookah bars: 707.04 Ug/m3

The non-smoking venues were observed to have PM 2.5 micron levels of 97 Ug/m3.

The numbers are alarming since the non-smokers may come in contact with the pollution and face adverse health effects.

The size and colour of the non-smoking signages put up at the venues were also not at par with the specifications provided by the government.

The only positive finding from the survey is that most of the public and private venues are implementing the ban well.

Professor Surendra Shastri, head of the Department of Preventive Oncology at the Tata Memorial Centre, said, “We have found that nearly 80 per cent restaurants in the city and 70 per cent in the suburbs are smoke-free. The law can be implemented properly if there is better co-ordination between various government agencies and private sectors."

The young volunteers who conducted this survey were in the age group of 15-30 years.