World No Tobacco Day celebrated by burning cigarettes at Barid Shahi Park

Bidar, May 31: As part of World No Tobacco Day celebrations, yoga practitioners and senior citizens created awareness against tobacco products by burning cigarettes at the city's Barid Shahi Park.

Speaking at the program, State Senior Citizen Awardee Veerabhadrappa Uppin demanded that if the government is truly concerned about the ill effects of consuming tobacco products like cigarettes, bidis, gutka, etc., their production should be banned.

About 50 crore people in the country are addicted to consuming cigarettes and gutka. As a result of various awareness campaigns, only 6% of people have been able to get rid of these addictions. This is not enough. He opined that if the government shows willpower and stops the production of tobacco products, people can get rid of the addiction and become healthy.

Yoga supervisor Gangappa Savale preached the pledge to create awareness among family members and people around them about the ill effects of tobacco consumption.

Retired headmaster Nijalingappa Tagare said that in recent times, it is a worrying development that the addiction to cigarettes and gutka has spread among all age groups without any distinction between men and women. He expressed concern that this has become a social scourge and is having a negative impact on the health of the society.

Progressive farmer Mallikarjuna Patil welcomed the program. Elder Ashok Sheelwant proposed the vote of thanks. The program was symbolically lit with cigarettes to spread the anti-tobacco message.

Dnyaneshwar Patil organized the program. Many yoga practitioners, senior citizens and the general public including Eshwar Kaneri, Vasant Dodamani, Gopala Reddy, Vaijinath Naubada were present on the occasion. The program was successful in creating awareness about the health problems caused by tobacco consumption.