RTC bus stand becomes smokers’ haven

Nizamabad: The TSRTC central bus depot in the town has become a smoker’s den with hundreds of smokers polluting the air in the surroundings and making a mockery of the anti-smoking law enacted in the year 2008.

Every day, scores of people are seen puffing away with the cigarettes between their lips causing lot of inconvenience to the non-smokers, especially women and children who have to inhale the smoke, risking their lungs to cancer. We see hundreds of smokers near the tea stalls, pan shops, book stalls, toilets and exhale the smoke in groups.

Some of the youth try to create trouble for the women, by smoking near them and forcing them to become passive smokers. However, what is surprising is the indifferent attitude of the TSRTC officials and the police who remain as silent spectators by not taking any action against the smokers who are not supposed to smoke in public places, that too when it is overcrowded.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Monday, some of the passive smokers said that though they lodged a complaint with the police, no action was taken against the smokers.

Shop keepers and small time traders said that though the TSRTC management was collecting thousands of Rupees from shops evry month, an additional Rs 150 from each shop was also being collected for implementing the Swacch Bharat programme, it was not taking any steps to prevent smoking or keeping the surroundings of the bus stand clean.