Hotels like ITC Park Sheraton in Chennai, for example, at least a day before the ban came into force, removed all ashtrays from the hotel's corridors and put up signage warning people not to smoke at non-designated spots.
Many restaurants in Mumbai have already put up such signage. Privately, several pub owners said their businesses would be affected due to this "indiscriminate" smoking ban. They felt the government rushed into such a measure without giving them enough time to arrange space for smokers.
The impact of this ban on footfalls in pubs and bars would be known only tomorrow, since it was a "dry day" across the country today to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Companies are expected to fall in line with Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' dream project of removing smoking in public places. Large multinational corporations like Cognizant Technology Solutions in Chennai that had designated spots within its campuses earlier for smokers have done away with them.
NNR Sharavanan, general manager (administration), Syntel, a US-based software firm which employs over 2,500 people in Chennai, said the company is taking stringent measures to implement the ban. If a majority of the employees appeal for a separate smoking area, the company may consider providing one which will not be in violation of the government’s order, he added.
Image: Cigarettes and tea cups on a table at a teahose in Istanbul | Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images
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