December 13: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has banned the sale, consumption and and transaction of tobacco-based products within its jurisdiction from today, December 13.    
KMC’s Health Department Chief Ram Prasad Poudel said a complete ban has been imposed on the sale of tobacco products in all 32 wards of the metropolis. According to him, the sale, storage and consumption of tobacco products packed in plastics have been completely prohibited within KMC.    
The banned tobacco products include raw tobacco, chewing tobacco, bidi, tambakhu, sulpha, gutkha, panparag, packaged in plastic pouches.    
The KMC had issued a public notice about this ban on November 28.    
The KMC Police have warned that they will seize such products if found sold within the metropolis.

"We are on a campaign to make Kathmandu a healthy city. We have decided to ban the storage, sale and use of tobacco-based products that are harmful to people's health and the environment, coinciding with the 29th KMC Day," said KMC’s Health Department Chief Poudel.    
He said this provision is included in Clause 42 of the Public Health Act the KMC issued in 2080 BS. The provision in the Act is being strictly implemented in a bid to reduce the adverse effects that the use of tobacco products is having on individual health.    
Tobacco control is the first condition for improving the public health and environment in the city. The KMC is preparing to implement programme to control hukka in the second phase.-- RSS