Kathmandu: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a comprehensive ban on the sale, storage, and usage of tobacco products packaged in plastic.
The Health Department of the Metropolitan City has informed that this regulation will be enforced within 15 days starting from today, Tuesday.
According to the issued notice, the ban will be effective from the 27th of the ongoing month. Items such as cigarettes, bidis, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, sulfur, beetle nuts, and raw tobacco packaged in plastic will be strictly prohibited for sale.
In case anyone is found selling these items, the Metropolitan Police will seize the goods.
This initiative comes in accordance with the Janaswasthya Act 2080, which empowers the local authorities to regulate the sale of harmful substances.
The Act, under Section 42, allows control and prohibition of the sale of tobacco and narcotic substances. The Metropolitan City is taking a strong stance on the sale of tobacco products in plastic packaging to prevent negative health impacts associated with their usage.
The enforcement will include stringent actions against those found violating the regulation.