Yangon, Jun 3 (IANS): Myanmar has extended the smoking ban to 10 more areas in the Bagan-NyaungU Ancient Cultural Zone in NyaungU township, Mandalay region, media reported.

The media report said that the chairman and members of the NyaungU township administration body inspected the tobacco smoke-free signboards, smoking areas, and non-smoking areas in NyaungU township on May 29, the state-run newspaper the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.

The number of tobacco smoke-free areas in the Bagan-NyaungU Ancient Cultural Zone has now increased to 102 after the designation of 10 more sites as smoke-free areas, the report said.

Myanmar initiated the designation of smoke-free areas in the Bagan-NyaungU archaeological zone in June 2019, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Bagan-NyaungU Ancient Cultural Zone, where more than 3,000 ancient pagodas and religious edifices can be viewed in one place, has existed for more than 1,000 years, standing as one of the tourist attractions of Myanmar.

The Bagan cultural zone, hit by an earthquake in 2016, was named as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2019.