Lengpui to become India’s first smoke-free airport

AIZAWL, July 7 – The Mizoram Government has said efforts are on to make Lengpui the first smoke-free airport in the country.

“We are taking steps to make Lengpui airport near Aizwal a smoke-free zone,” Chief Secretary and chairman of the State Tobacco Control Society Vanhela Pachuau told a press conference here.

Mizoram spent around Rs 70 crore on tobacco products per annum, Pachuau said, adding that a study conducted by the Presbyterian Church in 2004 revealed that 77 per cent of the church’s over five lakh members in the State together spent around Rs 9 lakh per day on tobacco products.

According to official data, 73.70 per cent men and 16.10 per cent women in the State smoke tobacco as against the national figure of 32.7 per cent and 16.10 per cent respectively.