Tobacco products banned in Kathmandu from today

Kathmandu, Dec 14: The decision of Kathmandu Municipal Corporation (KMC) to put a complete ban on the storage, sale, distribution and consumption of tobacco products comes into effect from today.    

Earlier, the KMC had put out a 15-days public notice on November 28 announcing the decision. The consumption, sale and storage of all types of tobacco products including raw tobacco and gutkha has been banned, said KMC spokesperson Naveen Manandhar. The decision comes into effect as per the provisions of the Tobacco Control and Regulation Act, 2068 BS.    

The KMC is mobilizing municipal police including in plain clothes to monitor the enforcement of the decision. "If tobacco products are found in any shop during the monitoring, action will be taken to confiscate them up to two times and close the shop if found for the third time," said Manandhar.    

Meanwhile, the KMC has also requested citizens to use KMC Police Force's hotline 18105000060 or telephone numbers 01-5901763 and 01-5901764 to inform about the violation of the decision. (RSS)