By hookah' or by crook!

What is hookah? The teenagers who flock to our city’s hookah bars each day certainly couldn’t tell you, as they take comfort in the mistaken belief that they’re inhaling flavoured smoke without exposing themselves to the perils of tobacco. Bans, raids and a penalty of Rs 10 lakh for violators have all gone in vain as these bars continue to flourish behind restaurant licenses, using even hookah as a smokescreen to serve up other illegal substances, reports Aknisree Karthik

They are your regular restaurants serving fast food and the like. But a smoky haze shrouds every other table where a colourful “sheesha”  is shared by  groups of giggling teenagers out for a good time. Easily accessible both in the heart of the city and its outskirts, the hookah bars have reappeared with a vengeance, despite the ban in force.

Aware of their reappearance, the BBMP raided several cafes and food joints in the city in December and  found them serving hookahs illegally to hundreds of teenagers, who were let off with a strict warning.

But almost a fashion statement today among the young, smoking hookah is not likely to disappear in a hurry as it has many teenagers and college- goers hooked in the city.

Unaware that they could be ingesting as much tobacco into their systems as when smoking a cigarette,  many continue to enjoy what they think is a harmless pastime. Others reportedly  use it as a cover to feed their addiction to afeem, ganja, white charas or even heroin.

Take Shreyas (name changed), a second year PU student at a leading college on Residency Road, who says he visits hookah bars around M G Road and Brigade Road once a week and admits to smoking hookah for the past year.

“I was introduced to  hookah by a friend last year. At first I did not like it, but as time passed I started enjoying the different flavours and now I regularly visit hookah bars in the city and sometimes on the outskirts,”   he says, admitting the habit gives  him immense pleasure and transports him into a different world.  

He is only one of hundreds of students  doing hookah in the many restaurants that violate their trade license by handing out the “sheeshas” to gullible teenagers on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, in Koramangala, J.P. Nagar and Indiranagar among other prominent areas of the city. Dhabas and highway hotels on the outskirts  too offer hookahs to teens out for a joy ride and a little bit of fun.

“Although there is a ban on hookah bars, there are hundreds of them operating illegally in Bengaluru. These units take a trade license to run a café or restaurant and then illegally serve hookahs. Afeem, ganja, white charas, heroin and other prohibited substances are also used by these hookah bars,” says city BJP spokesman, N R Ramesh.

Painting a disturbing picture, he claims some of the hookah joints have bedrooms attached, where innocent girls are addicted to hookah and  sexually exploited. “It is quick and easy money for the hookah bars, which charge over Rs 350 an hour. The cost varies depending on the flavour and substance used,” he adds, strongly advising the BBMP to clamp down on these units with the help of the police and   take criminal action against those running them.

What is the BBMP doing to tackle this?
The December raids against the hookah bars are only the beginning. Similar raids will be carried out thrice a week, says chairman of the BBMP’s  Standing Committee on Health, Anand Kumar.

 The civic agency seems to be in no mood to tolerate the violation of its ban on the bars. If the school and college students were let off with a warning by it in the December raids, the restaurant owners themselves were told to cough up fines of  Rs 10 lakh  for violating their trade licenses. And the rooms where the hookahs  were served were sealed and notices issued to the owners asking why no action should be taken against them.  

In the BBMP’s estimate there are over 419 illegal hookah bars in the city. “We grant them trade licenses to run cafes and restaurants, but they  serve hookah illegally to their customers. This  is a violation of the  Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA), 2003 as well,” explains Mr Anand Kumar, revealing that samples of the various flavours of hookah collected in the raids have been  sent to labs for testing. “If we find that a banned substance has been used we will slap criminal cases against the units concerned. We have begun collecting information about illegal hookah units from every ward. Even the public are informing us about units that are operating secretly. They will be caught," he asserts

“I was introduced to  hookah by a friend last year. At first I did not like it, but as time passed I started enjoying the different flavours and now I regularly visit hookah bars in the city and sometimes on the outskirts,”   he says, admitting the habit gives  him immense pleasure and transports him into a different world.  

He is only one of hundreds of students  doing hookah in the many restaurants that violate their trade license by handing out the “sheeshas” to gullible teenagers on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, in Koramangala, J P Nagar and Indiranagar among other prominent areas of the city. Dhabas and highway hotels on the outskirts  too offer hookahs to teens out for a joy ride and a little bit of fun.

“Although there is a ban on hookah bars, there are hundreds of them operating illegally in Bengaluru. These units take a trade license to run a café or restaurant and then illegally serve hookahs. Afeem, ganja, white charas, heroin and other prohibited substances are also used by these hookah bars,” says city BJP spokesman, N R Ramesh.

Painting a disturbing picture, he says some of the hookah joints have bedrooms attached, where innocent girls are addicted to hookah and  sexually exploited. “It is quick and easy money for the hookah bars, which charge over Rs 350  for an hour. The cost varies depending on the flavour and substance used,” he adds, strongly advising the BBMP to clamp down on these units with the help of the police and   take criminal action against those running them.

How many hookah bars have evaded the law?
Illegal units over 419  
Raids in December 2016: 2
Raided and sealed: 9 units
Fine slapped upto Rs 10 lakhs

Hookah bars violate the following sections of COTPA:

• Section 4 : Eateries / restaurants / bars with less than 30 seats cannot serve hookah. Those with over 30 seats can serve hookah provided they have a separate smoking room where no food is served.
• Section 5 - No advertisements are allowed for sale or promotion of hookah
• Section 6 (A) and (B): There can be no sale of hookah within 100 yards of educational institutions and to minors. All places that sell hookah should display a picture of cancer patients.
• Section 7 : Hookah products must contain pictorial warnings on them to warn consumers about their harmful effects.

Hookah smoking is not safer than cigarette smoking. Also known as narghile, sheesha and goza, a hookah is a water pipe with a smoke chamber, a bowl, a pipe and a hose. Specially made tobacco is heated and the smoke passes through water and is  drawn through a rubber hose to a mouthpiece. The tobacco is no less toxic in a hookah pipe, and the water in the hookah doesn't filter out the toxic ingredients in the tobacco smoke