MARGAO
The district-level coordination committee for tobacco control on Tuesday took serious cognizance of the seizure of banned tobacco products including gutkha at the Margao railway station.
The committee also called for strict enforcement of COTPA across the district, including the erection of signages across the beach belt and educational institutions as per the provisions of the law.
The meeting chaired by South Goa Additional Collector, Surendra Naik, took serious note of the recent seizures of the consignment of the banned tobacco products, including gutkha at the Margao railway station and the impact it had on the people of the district.
A representative of the Konkan Railway Corporation was told to comply with the requirement of installing no-tobacco boards at the
Margao railway station by December 31.
The KRC representative was asked to shed light on the seizure effected by the Konkan Railway police and the modus operandi adopted by unscrupulous elements in transporting the banned tobacco items via the railways.
Additional Collector, Surendra Naik, told the media that the meeting reviewed the implementation and enforcement of various rules under COTPA, saying the representatives of various departments have been told to implement the provisions in their respective jurisdictions.
Goacan Coordinator Roland Martins informed that the railways has been asked to put up no-tobacco boards at the Margao and other stations for effective implementation of COTPA.
He pointed out that the representative of the tourism department has assured of erecting signages of no-tobacco use at the beaches across South Goa. The forest department has promised to erect the signages around Galgibaga beach belt.
