BMC penalises restaurants, revellers for flouting norms
BMC OFFICIALS SAID THEY HAVE FORMED TEAMS AT THE WARD LEVEL THAT WILL VISIT RESTAURANTS, PUBS AND OTHER LOCATIONS THAT DRAW CROWDS
MUMBAI: To ensure that restrictions are followed during the ongoing Christmas and New Year celebrations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken an aggressive stance against gatherings of all sorts. The rules state that restaurants and pubs will be allowed to operate only at 50% capacity. BMC officials on Sunday said that they have formed teams at the ward level that will visit various restaurants, pubs and other locations that draw crowds during this period to ensure that rules are not flouted.
Vinayak Vispute, assistant municipal commissioner and in-charge of Bandra, Khar and Santacruz which are prominent locations for Christmas and New Year celebrations in Mumbai said that on Saturday, December 25, a total of six restaurants and pubs from this area including U-turn Restaurant, Voltage Bar, Rasta Bombay and Bombay Adda were penalised for flouting norms. Individuals were fined Rs 200 for not wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. More 150 people were fined in total in these bars on Saturday night.
“During the site visit, we found that the bars were overcrowded and many of the people present were not wearing masks. We have fined all those who were present there and have also imposed a penalty on the bar owners,” Vispute said. He said that the licenses of these establishments will not be revoked but if they repeat the offence, stricter action will be taken. “We will continue our raids for the next one week for everyone’s safety, and violators will be penalised,” he said.
Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, said that at the ward level the BMC has formed small teams that are visiting various restaurants and banquet halls within their jurisdiction to check if the reservations made for New Year parties have been cancelled or not. “This year, no gathering has been allowed which is why we are following up with the hotel and banquet hall management for cancelling all the bookings in advance to avoid any last minute rush,” said Gaikwad. “Our teams will continously carry out these drives for the next one week and the violators will be punished,” he said.
Shivadas Gurav, ward officer who is in charge of Colaba, Cuffe Parade and Nariman Point areas however said that during Christmas day, people in his ward followed the rules. “The rules were out since Friday night and people nowadays have become more vigilant than earlier. But we are still being cautious to avoid any untoward incident,” Gurav said. Hemant Parab, chief fire officer (CFO), Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), said that owing to Christmas and New Year, he has directed fire officials to carry out inspection of the fire compliance system in every restaurant and bar within their jurisdiction. “During this time, many bars and restaurants set up open kitchens and violate fire safety rules. We have already started our visits to make sure anything untoward doesn’t occur in the last week of the year,” Parab said.
On December 25, over 7,700 individuals were fined a total of Rs 15.5 lakh by the BMC and Mumbai Police for not wearing masks at public places. Most of the violators fined were in A ward, around the Marine Drive promenade.