BBMP will ask police to ban hookah bars

After the dancing, it is the turn of the hookah that will be on the ‘banned’ list of the city.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday decided to ban hookahs in the city.
Saying that hookah was “not part of our culture”, Yediyur ward corporator N R Ramesh said the habit was turning into an addiction for the youth.
“It is a very unhealthy habit and the coal used for burning is very dangerous when inhaled,” he said. “There are many places that serve marijuana, opium and other narcotics,” he said and demanded that hookah bars be banned.
Stating that there was only one hookah bar in Istanbul that followed the actual traditions and practices of the culture, he said no other hookah place in the world has adhered to the norms.
The predicament was different for Deputy Commissioner (Health) Ramchandramurthy who said Hookah bars did not come under the list of trades in the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976.
Though the Mayor announced that all hookah bars would be banned in the city, they said that they would urge Commissioner Siddaiah to write to the city police commissioner to implement the ban and probe allegations of the sale of drugs at such places.