Night curfew dampens Mumbai’s Christmas, New Year eve plans

The night curfew was announced in Mumbai on Monday in line with the Maharashtra government’s decision amid concerns over the outbreak of a new strain of the coronavirus disease in the United Kingdom.

Mumbai’s Christmas eve and New Year’s eve celebrations will be severely hit this year due to the night curfew imposed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) amid the pandemic. The curfew will remain in force between 11 pm and 6 am till January 5. The development comes after several bars and restaurants in the city were caught flouting the Epidemic Diseases Act 1987, by not maintaining social distancing and closing down within government-issued timings.

People wearing protective face masks wait for passengers to arrive at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after India cancelled all flights from the UK over fears of a new strain of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (REUTERS)

The night curfew was announced in Mumbai on Monday in line with the Maharashtra government’s decision amid concerns over the outbreak of a new strain of the coronavirus disease in the United Kingdom.

Following this, restaurants, bars, pubs, eateries, and malls in the city can now remain open only up till 11 pm, even on December 25 and December 31. Gatherings of more than 5 people are not allowed at public places such as Marine Drive, Worli Seaface, Gateway of India, Bandra Bandstand, and other popular hangouts for families and youngsters from the city. Religious places of worship also received directives from the Mumbai Police on Wednesday, allowing no more than 50 people to gather at churches for midnight mass on Christmas eve and New Year’s eve. As per the directives, prayers cannot go on beyond 11 am to ensure night curfew is strictly followed, stated a circular from the Maharashtra government on Wednesday.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure considering a mutation of Sar-Cov-2, the virus causing Covid-19, found in Britain, which is believed to spread faster than the previous strains. He said people will have to be more vigilant for the next 15 days.

On Saturday, December 6, the BMC had raided three nightclubs in the city, after a tip-off that they were functioning overnight on that weekend, at overfull capacity, without adhering to rules such as social distancing or wearing of masks. Following this, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had written to the state government to impose night curfew in Mumbai. However, the decision was temporarily stalled.

However, Chahal said on Monday while announcing night curfew, “Even on Sunday night (December 20), our teams visited some nightclubs and found violations. This is why the decision of night curfew had to be taken. This is not a normal new year and hence we cannot have normal celebrations like every year. The curfew is being imposed to ensure that such violations are not repeated.”

Regarding restrictions on outings at public places on new year’s eve, Chahal told Hindustan Times on Wednesday, “Gatherings of more than 5 people will not be allowed at public places.”

However, Mumbai police spokesperson and deputy commissioner of Police S Chaitanya told Hindustan Times on Wednesday, “For 31st night, there will be no exceptions. Only people who are allowed include staff from the essential services industry. Apart from this, curfew will be strictly implemented post 11 pm. Presently too, congregations of people are not allowed. There will be police patrolling to manage crowding, drunk driving, etc. Five and more people is just an indicator, but the point is crowd management. At public places, Mumbai police treats people gathered together as one big gathering, so police will ask people to leave.”

For midnight prayers in churches on Christmas and new year’s eve, the government on Wednesday issued a circular directing religious places to hold prayers only till 11 pm, and not allow gatherings of more than 50 people at churches. Father Nizel Barret, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay said on Wednesday, “We received these instructions today. As per the earlier rules, a gathering of up to 200 people was allowed, till 11 pm. We had made all plans to adhere to these rules. After today’s instructions, we have hardly any time to prepare. We will have to find a way to allow only 50 people in the church for prayers.”

However, restaurant owners associations have already presented their case to the municipal commissioner, requesting relaxation of timings on December 31. Gurbaxis Singh, president of hotel and restaurant owners’ association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “We had asked the BMC to relax timings even before curfew was imposed. Now we are following up. It is not logical to shut down at 11 pm, contrary to earlier timing of 11.30 pm. Moreover, on new year’s eve, this is very bad for business. Everyone wants to celebrate till midnight. If we are closing at 11 pm, no one will bother to come to the bars at all, and leave just short of midnight. They will opt for house parties, or will head out of the town.”

Mumbaikars are opting to travel to other states to celebrate Christmas and new year this year. Shrikant Hande, 32, is travelling to Goa with his wife and friends to celebrate Christmas. “We were planning to go to Dubai this time as we travel to another country every year. But there are a lot of restrictions on international travel. So we planned to go to Goa, which is closer to home in case of an emergency.”

Sanket Shingre, 27, travelled to Bir in Himachal Pradesh from Mumbai in the second week of December and will return in the first week of January. He said, “When we made the plans, the idea was to get away from routine as work from home due to lockdown had become very monotonous. At that time, the decision about night curfew was not taken. But we made a good decision to come out of Mumbai to celebrate the new year.”