Hookah bars and pubs have become death traps for young generation, said Senior BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha commenting on the recent deadly Kamala Mills fire mishap that had killed 14 people. He has also demanded the Government to immediately ban the Hookah parlours in the state by issuing an ordinance.
Lodha had presented a revised bill for total ban on Hookah parlours in the state in the recently concluded Nagpur assembly session. But considering the large number of youths died in Kamala Mill accident, there is no need to wait for next assembly session. “Govt should also ban Hookah parlours in other states of the country — Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab. It is a fact that Hookah bars are run in many restaurants in the city and it is necessary to cancel licenses of these establishments,” he expressed.
“I have been demanding to shut the Hookah bars for almost since last three years. I have raised this demand in assembly and also had told this to the Chief Minister by personally meeting him. This time, I have presented a revised bill in the assembly. The next budget session will have discussion about this. But after the death of several people when the fire broke out at Mojo’s Bistro lounge pub, government should not wait till the budget session and instead, issue an ordinance to ban Hookah bars with immediate effect. Hookah bars have come up as nests of crimes in Mumbai and major cities of the State,” Lodha concluded.
