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• A board to be displayed at a prominent place
indicating ‘no smoking zone’. The board to be placed in the lobby and at tables,
too
• Separate seating arrangements for smokers
and non-smokers and steps to prevent inconvenience to non-smokers while passing
through the smoking zone
• If separate seating arrangement not possible,
smoking will be banned
• If any customer violates the Act, the bar
manager may lodge a complaint with the police
• Stub out cigarette before entering a bar.
You can, however, smoke inside the bar if there is a specific smoking zone
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The smoker versus non-smoker split is now wide open
and hospitality establishments are scrambling to define the great divide.
Before the week of the introduction of the anti-smoking act on May 1 is out, Calcutta’s bars and restaurants have begun to chalk out restructure plans along smoking lines.
This is part of an elaborate exercise a lobby representing the food and drinks trade in town has planned for restaurants and bars.
It begins with basics, like what does one do when a client walks in with a cigarette between his lips; how does one tell a smoker to look elsewhere if there is no provision for smoking or the smoking area is full; how does one react if a client lights up in a non-smoking section after a few drinks and refuses to see reason…
S.K. Khullar, vice-president of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India, said on Tuesday that the body had appointed a consultant to advise its members on how to implement the requisite technical and procedural steps to improve airflow, ventilation and indoor air quality, besides providing guidance to bar-owners on realignment of space.
“Our job is to tell them (restaurants and bars) how to maintain a healthy atmosphere inside the establishments. We have already prepared a CD containing training material for the staff and technical knowledge for remodelling of airflow and ventilation systems,” said Khullar, who is also the owner of Amber.
The anti-smoking act allows restricted smoking in a hotel having 30 rooms or more and bars and restaurants having seating capacity of 30 persons or more.
The establishments must have physically-segregated zones for smokers. Smoking is, however, banned in any bar or restaurant with less than 30 seats.
Abhijit Ghatak, the manager of Kwality, said small bars and restaurants housed on a single floor would find it tough to segregate smoking zones.
Rajesh Mishra, secretary of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, was, however, categorical: “The number of customers will drop drastically if smoking is prohibited. So, redoing the seating arrangement is a must.’’
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