Click to play videoMumbai: Images of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan smoking at the Twenty-20 match in Mumbai were flashed across television channels all over in the past few weeks because superstar was breaking the law of the land.
But is the man on the street following suit? Or is he abiding by the ban on smoking in public places that was enforced in Mumbai more than two years ago?
“Yes well they don't smoke anymore in public places,” says a resident of Mumbai.
The government has been on an offensive against the addiction having first banned cigarette hoardings in 2004, forbidding smoking in public places in 2005, and then made noises about banning smoking on screen as well.
But even then, going by the sheer numbers of small cigarette shops that operate around every nook and corner of the city, it doesn't look like smoking has taken that big a hit.
“They smoke in public places even on trains,” says a resident of Mumbai.
But many believe that these legislations are still necessary.
“Legislation should come before education. People will get educated because most people are more considerate,” says Dr Prabodh Karnik.
So have these laws helped the city in some way after all?
It is difficult to change the habits of regular smokers, especially with legislation. But the law has made smoking in public a social stigma, which is perhaps the first step towards a healthier city.
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