Visakhapatnam: With an aim to prevent children from accessing tobacco and related products, the city police have come up with a special action plan in Visakhapatnam.

Tightening monitoring aspects, the city police cautioned that stringent action will be taken against those selling tobacco and related products near schools and colleges in the city.

The move intends to make the public spaces safer. As part of it, Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi and Andhra Pradesh State Public Health Department officials conducted a special training programme for the police personnel.

Visakhapatnam city police decided to take strict action against those who smoke in public places and sell tobacco products in 100-yard radius of educational institutions.

According to them, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) will be effectively implemented in the city limits.

In collaboration with the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), the State Public Health Department and Sambandh Health Foundation organised a comprehensive training programme at the police conference hall. “About 48,000 deaths registered in our state due to tobacco-related diseases. According to Section 6 (b) of the COTPA Act, selling tobacco within 100-yard of educational institutions is banned,” mentioned Shankhabrata Bagchi, City Commissioner of Police. The training classes conducted on COTPA will help police officers effectively enforce the law, he added.

Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Research Institute surgical Oncologist Dr Uma Sankar Tantravahi mentioned that 90 percent of oral and lung cancers are registered because of using tobacco products. He opined that the prevention measures of the police can save more lives than the doctors’ efforts in curbing tobacco.

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is a self-administered, school-based survey designed to monitor tobacco use among youth aged from 13 to 15 years, revealed that in Andhra Pradesh, 20 percent of adults (over 15 years) use tobacco products. Surprisingly, in the state, more than 250 children are consuming tobacco products every day. In India, an average of 5,500 children start tobacco use on a daily basis. Most of them are becoming addicted to them.

Under Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, a person can be sentenced to seven years of severe imprisonment for selling tobacco products to children.

Keeping the data in view, the CP decided to monitor the system closely. He instructed the station house officers to set up ‘no smoking’ boards at all police stations in Visakhapatnam city.