Bars, hotels to remain open till 5 am on December 25 and 31

Hotels, restaurants and bars have been instructed to deploy enough number of staff and to ensure the safety of the customers visiting their establishments. Representation pic

In a welcome move, the Shiv Sena-led state government has allowed the hotels, permit rooms, restaurants and orchestra bars to remain open till 5.00 am on December 25 and 31.

The state government sent out a circular to the police commissioners of various cities asking them to allow establishments to function till early morning.

After the representation and consistent follow up by Ahar - Indian Hotel & Restaurant Association, the government of Maharashtra permitted the extension of timing to all restaurants.

While last year too, late-night parties continued in the city, the permissions came in at the eleventh hour causing many to back out from planned activities. However, this time the government has given a go-ahead in advance.

Through the circular, all the hotels, restaurants and bars have been instructed to deploy enough number of staff and to ensure the safety of the customers visiting their establishments.

Further, hotel and restaurant owners have also been asked to ensure that no law and order situation arises anytime during the celebration thereby providing enough security arrangements. It has further asked commercial places to adhere to the permissible sound limit.

According to the circular, if a situation arises, cops can stop the time extension and revoke the blanket permission for that particular place in cities like Thane, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pun, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur.

It also mentions that in case of any law and order situation inside or outside the establishment, the license holder or the owner/occupier of the place will be held responsible.

Talking to mid-day about the new permission, Shivanand Shetty, President of AHAR (Hotels and Restaurants Association) said, "We have got the permission well in advance this year and thus everyone can prepare for the New Year celebrations.

Based on the circular, we have accordingly directed our members to ensure that safety measures are undertaken properly."

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