Chandigarh, July 15 (IANS) Chandigarh, the 'City Beautiful' planned by French architect Le Corbusier, Sunday became the first Indian city to be officially declared smoke-free.
A hotel in Sector 35 was the first to be fined for not putting up 'no smoking' board as required under the new anti-smoking guidelines issued by the Chandigarh Administration.
The owner of the premises will be required to pay a fine of Rs.500 for the first offence.
Smoking in all public areas, including hotels, restaurants and other buildings - other than designated smoking areas - has been banned in the city.
The administration had last month announced that the city would be the first one in the country to be declared smoke free on July 15.
Being a Sunday, not many people were seen in markets and commercial areas that remained shut.
Banners announcing Chandigarh as smoke-free city were seen all over the city - especially on main roads and hotels and restaurants.
The Chandigarh police kept a vigil at the famous Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden and other areas popular for weekend outings even as smokers were made aware of the new rules.
A spokesman of the administration said that public places and other premises will be checked by anti-smoking teams in coming days to make people more aware of the ban and ensure that non-smokers were not affected.
Police officials above the rank of sub-inspectors, food and drug inspectors and some other officials have been given powers penalize people violating the ban.
However, people can smoke in the comfort of their homes and other private areas.
Citizens here were happy with the move.
"This is a very good step. Why should we suffer passive smoking and affect our health?" said university student Tanvi Rajpal.
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