Pubs in Bangalore Continue to Allow Smoking

A new survey carried out by Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research (CMDR) has revealed that more than half of the pubs, bars, coffee shops and restaurants in Bangalore continue to allow smokers even though they are termed as non smoking zones.

According to the survey, more than 63 percent of the public places in the capital city ignore the anti-smoking law which in turn has increased the toxicity of the air inside such places. The survey was carried out by CMDR in more than 37 public places in Bangalore from September 2009 to January 2010.

Speaking out on the result of the survey, CMDR's Nayantara Nayak said that the main aim of the survey was to find out about the problems faced by passive smokers in the state capital. He went on to state that the toxicity of the air inside such places far outstripped that on some of the busiest traffic signals in the city.

"The results of the study are shocking. The level of PM2.5 ( Particulate Matter up to 2.5 mm in size) in Bangalore Urban is 14 times more than what WHO prescribes to be normal. In more than 60% of the places that we have surveyed, we found instances of illegal smoking. In many places, even the 'no-smoking boards' were missing", he said.

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