'Get rid of paan-bidi shops near schools and colleges'

Itrsquos a similar scene outside almost every college in the city a bunch of students smoking while chatting during their tea breaks The presence of unauthorised vendors and even regular shops selling cigarettes and tobacco products to students has worried schools and colleges Hence they have taken up the cudgels against such shops Institutes from Sion Matunga and Wadala a major educational hub with several colleges and schools have written to both the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC and the local police about the issue A vendor selling tobacco products within 100 m of R A Podar College in Matunga PicsAmit Jadhav Over the last few days inu00a0FNorth ward which covers Matunga E has received letters from several educational institutions complaining against the gutkha and cigaretteselling vendors and shops close to their premises Some of the major institutions include Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute VJTI R A Podar College Don Bosco School St Joseph High School SIES School and College and other such educational institutions in and around the area In these letters sent to the BMC and Matunga police station copies available with MiD DAY the institute heads have mentioned that ldquosale of tobacco mawa gutkha and cigarette packets has increased in and around the vicinity of schools and colleges The same has to be stopped in order to keep young students from being lured into adopting these vices which could lead them to indulge in antisocial behaviourrdquo As per the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act 1948 no licensed trades including paan shops can sell tobacco products within a 100metre radius of an educational institute The initiative to write to the authorities was taken by a local activist and heads of the institutes lent their full support to the campaign ldquoMany children are found buying cigarettes and tobacco products from these hawkers and shops This needs to be stoppedrdquo said Mandeep Singh the social worker who coordinated with the school and college authorities while filing the complaints lsquoGet rid of the stallsrsquo Principals called for removal of the stalls selling such products Dr V M Topkar director in charge VJTI said ldquoYes the letter has been sent to the BMC But I donrsquot know whether any cognisance has been taken or not We have a counselling centre in our college for students to provide advice to them about not indulging in such activities But if a youngster is heavily addicted he may easily go beyond 100 metres to buy such stuff We cannot help such childrenrdquo Dr Shobana Vasudevan principal of R A Podar College of Commerce and Economics Matunga said ldquoAn activist was conducting a drive against sale of such products near campuses I supported it and signed up for the cause I believe prevention is better than cure Sale of such things needs to be stopped near campuses to prevent students from buying themrdquo Dr Ajit Singh principal of Guru Nanak Khalsa College said ldquoWe have supported the drive No vendors or shops should be allowed to sell tobacco or gutkha where there are educational institutions BMC should take strict action against them and cancel the licences of those who are selling it We have one shop behind our college that sells these products to the studentsrdquo On MiD DAYrsquos visit to a few of these sites it was found that there were vendors selling cigarettes tobacco products peppermints paan masala and other products These were temporary stalls set up in a corner near the campuses Many college youngsters were seen buying the products BMC speaks While confirming that they had indeed received the letters civic officials maintained that over the last couple of days they had conducted special raids and drives against such vendors ldquoWe have started our special drives since November 18 near these institutions and have been catching vendors for selling gutkha and cigarettesrdquo said A Sasane assistant municipal commissioner FNorth ward Matunga According to authorities every time a BMC van shows up for a raid the unauthorised vendors pack up their wares and flee the spot If the guilty are caught their wares wooden slabs and other paraphernalia used to set up shop are auctioned and the gutkha and cigarette packets are destroyed using chemical powder However sources said that many of these vendors pay money and escape only to return to the same spot to conduct business as usual