Sale of gutkha and all other types of tobacco products will be banned around the Shree Jagannath Temple complex, announced Puri district Collector Dhiren Kumar Patnaik, while addressing a gathering on the observance of the World No Tobacco Day here on Saturday.
This apart, sale of tobacco products would also be prohibited near schools and colleges and other academic institutions, he said, adding that said a village would be adopted by the district administration making it a model tobacco-free village.Shree Jagannath Temple Administrator Aravind Padhee, who spoke on the occasion as the chief guest, emphasised on spread of awareness among the people, especially students, regarding the hazards of tobacco consumption. He said making laws alone cannot stop this menace which poses a great threat to human lives.
Professor Surendranath Senapati of thr Acharya Harihar Cancer Research Institute, Cuttack elaborated how smoking and use of other tobacco products is the single largest cause of cancer. He expressed concern over use of tobacco by students.Doctors of various hospitals of the State including Basanta Kumar Pati, Manoj Kumar Sahoo, Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Chandiprasad Patnaik, Satyabrat Das, SR Das, HB Mahapatra, Kalyan Sarkar and Debabrata Das also participated in the seminar.
Besides, Ramakant Mahapatra from Gujarat, Naresh Mahapatra of Mumbai, Tusar Kumar from Arogya Bharat and Puri Chief District Medical Officer Gyanendra Kumar Sahoo too spoke about the risks of tobacco consumption.Others who addressed the gathering included Sub-Collector Madhusudan Dash, Puri Hotel Association secretary Rajkishore Patra and social activists Chakradhar Mahapatra and Badri Mihsra.
Mission Odisha convenor Madhusudan Mishra conducted the proceedings of the seminar.