Shimla shows the way to curb spitting in public
Spitting in public is an offence under municipal laws in various cities with Shimla being the first to ban it way back in 2007. On Wednesday, the Union home ministry made spitting in public a punishable offence under the strict Disaster Management Act in its revised guidelines for the lockdown to contain Covid-19 but implementation holds the key.
Spitting on roads in Shimla was banned after the Himachal Pradesh high court’s order in 2007 that led to the civic authorities putting up signboards on the Mall, fining those spitting and smoking in public between Rs 50 and Rs 500.
Initially, many were fined but gradually the change set in and the number of roadside vendors selling cigarettes and betel nut (paan) came down from over a dozen to three on the Mall.
“In the initial years, a lot of people were challaned but the number of violators has come down significantly,” says municipal health officer Dr Surekha Chopra. “Though we don’t have a record for this, the Himachal Pradesh government is implementing World Health Organisation guidelines, banning people from spitting in public places to curb transmission Covid-19,” she said.
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Three days on, Karnal man held for Ambala carjacking
Three days after at least four unidentified men robbed a Mahindra XUV 500 owned by a Shimla resident on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway, police on Monday arrested a suspect from Haridwar for his alleged involvement in the case. The accused, Vikas Mann of Karnal's Bala village, claims to be a law-graduate from a private university in Mohali and practising at Punjab and Haryana high court.
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Uprooted trees, rain cause power outages in Ludhiana
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Rainfall ends 80-day dry spell in city, brings down mercury
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Panchkula gears up for Khelo India Youth Games
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Pratibha Singh seeks special package for Himachal
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