Hyderabad: No Smoking rule goes up in smoke at hotels

Rajendranagar: In the absence of implementing deterrent civic laws at public places, the 'No Smoking' rule imposed by the GHMC has gone for a toss in hotels at Rajendranagar.

People sitting in hotels and smoking cigarettes are a common scene now-a-days in hotels, causing serious inconvenience to non-smokers, even in dining areas of the hotels. What is more appalling is that so many hotels have hung the 'No Smoking' boards to keep the smokers away, but they turn other way when people indulge in smoking.

Especially, Aaram Ghar X Road and Dairy Farm X Road areas, where one notices myriad footfalls of passengers, students, tourists and labourers, the hotels are seen full of people smoking on, unmindful of others' inconvenience.

"Despite imposing a ban on smoking/tobacco use in various public and tourists places in the city, it is a common scene here in hotels from Aaram Ghar X Road to Attapur. Almost all the hotels are allowing smokers to use their premises that causing inconveniency to other non-smokers who come to have meals or refreshment paying more than what the smokers," bemoaned Anil, a resident of Shivrampalli.

"It is the responsibility of the sanitation wing if the GHMC to make surprise inspections in the hotels to ensure the owners maintain 'No Smoking' regulations on their premises in order to provide a better place to customers turning up there to have means or refreshment," rued Mohd Jahingir, a resident of Hassan Nagar.

People at the helm of affairs in GHMC, especially in sanitary wing, are not competent enough to crack the whip against errant owner who are mocking the civic laws by holding 'No Smoking' boards in their premises and allowing people to sit close to the display board and smoke freely, another resident bemoaned. "Officials especially in sanitary wing of GHMC Rajendranagar are taking the issue for granted as the staff and other officials have been serving here for several years and act as if they are endowed with impunity," he flayed.