Mumbai police gears up to ensure city celebrates New Year safely

The Mumbai police have written to the BMC and the BEST to put up more lights and temporary watch towers at prominent beaches and promenades, to provide maximum visibility and facilitate easy monitoring.

The city police are in the process of meeting owners of five-star hotels, bars, discos and other establishments to ensure no untoward incident occurs during the New Year parties.

The Mumbai police are in the process of meeting owners of five-star hotels, bars, discos and other establishments to ensure no untoward incident occurs during the New Year parties. (HT File)

Adequate measures have been taken for security of women on prominent Mumbai beaches, promenades and other public places that will see a heavy footfall.

On New Year’s night, lakhs of people throng Mumbai beaches such as Juhu, Aksa and promenades like Bandstand, Carter road, Marine drive and Gateway of India. Alot of people will also be partying in hotels, bars and pubs. The police have written to the BMC and the BEST to put up more lights and temporary watch towers at prominent beaches and promenades, to provide maximum visibility and facilitate easy monitoring. Drones may also be used for crowd surveillance.

Assistant commissioner of police, Santacruz division, Dattatray Bhargude told HT, “We have scheduled a meeting with all hoteliers, pub owners and owners of other commercial establishments which will draw a lot of crowd for New Year parties. We will request them to not put out lights at midnight as a preventive measure. We will instruct them to ensure no untoward incident like molestation or eve teasing takes place. They have also been asked to appeal to their patrons to use public transport in case they have consumed alcohol.” Bhargude said that there will be CCTV cameras on the Juhu beach and the police will be patrolling it on foot as well as on their vehicles. Cops will also be armed with video cameras. “Both men and women officers will be dressed in plain clothes to see if anyone is causing nuisance.” The officer said that the coastal areas will be heavily manned.

Senior police inspector of Colaba police station, Vijay Dhopavkar said, “As a preventive measure, we have decided to divide the crowd at Gateway of India. One line will be made for families and another for men. Also, heightened security has been provided around the Taj hotels. Since Colaba is a place where many foreigners frequent, we will see to it that they are safe and enjoy their time.”

The anti-terror cells and detection squads at the police station level have been asked to collect inputs from their informers to ensure no major criminal activity occurs during the celebrations.

Senior police inspector of Marine Drive police station, Vilas Gangavne said, “There will be a lot of security outside major hotels like Trident. We will be making announcements on the Marine drive to guide people. We also appeal to people to report to us if they see any suspicious object or activity.”