Hookah bars in Kolkata to shut down amid reports of drug dealing

All hookah bars in Kolkata will be shut down after allegations were received that some of these places were being used for dealing in drugs, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.

Licence of any bar will also be cancelled if they are found secretly selling hookah, he said.

"There are allegations of illegal drug use at the hookah bars. The young generation is getting addicted to drugs. And, this is why hookah bars have been ordered to close," he said.

Welcoming the decision of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, doctors said having hookah for an hour was equivalent to consuming 100 cigarettes in terms of nicotine deposits.

"At the hookah bars, which are located inside restaurants, a lot of passive smoking also happens. It is harmful to health as one hour of hookah is equivalent to consuming 100 cigarettes," said doctor Bikash Majumder, senior consultant interventional cardiologist at Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals.

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