Pay for gutkha ads: BMC

MUMBAI, August 25: Ganesh mandals across the metropolis have been urged by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to avoid display of...

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MUMBAI, August 25: Ganesh mandals across the metropolis have been urged by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to avoid display of all advertisements relating gutkha and instead put up messages to create awareness against the tobacco product during the forthcoming annual festival.

However, it is doubtful whether the mandals will comply with the request made by BMC public health committee since lately advertisements by gutkha generate substantial revenue for the mandals. Since the BMC cannot `ban’ it will charge a fee on the mandals which display such banners.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has also issued strictures debarring gutkha manufacturers from sponsoring Ganesh utsavs.

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In a bid to create an awareness against the ill-effects of gutkha and prevent the spread of its consumption, state health minister Dr Daulatrao Aher too had earlier expressed his wish that Ganpati mandals should abstain from advertising various gutkha brands during the ten-day festival.

The Minister is also lobbying for a ban on manufacture and sale of gutkha in Maharashtra. “While FDA Commissioner firmly believes that consumption of gutkha is harmful, he says he is helpless when it comes to banning it as a product. Only the government can decide about it,” the minister added.

Letters requesting a comprehensive bill on the ban of gutkha in Maharahstra by the chairperson of civic public health committee, Dr Ram Barot, local Member of Parliament, Ram Naik and signed by over 300 doctors, besides one from the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) to Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma last month has failed to elicit any response.

Available in small pouches for as less as 50 paise gutkha has made addicts of school children. Its increasing popularity in the recent years has caused an increase in the incidence of oral cancer among the youth all over the country. Organisers of Ganesh utsavs and other popular events will have to take the responsibility of educating the youth, said Dr Barot.

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A short public awareness film against the habit of gutkha made by Different Strokes, a film making company and sponsored by the BMC and the Tata Memorial Centre will also be released shortly, he said.