New Year parties not allowed on rooftops, boats, beaches and pubs: Mumbai Police

Photo used for representational purpose

The Mumbai Police has made massive arrangements to ensure that all COVID-19 safety protocols are fully adhered to during the New Year celebrations in the city.

Sharing details, Mumbai police spokesperson S Chaitanya on Monday said that every year, people gather in large numbers and welcome the New Year, but this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic many restrictions have been put in place.

"The night curfew has been imposed from 11 pm to 6 am and many guidelines have been issued by the state authorities. The Mumbai police have also imposed Section 144 of the CrPC under which more than five people are not allowed to congregate," said Chaitanya.

He further said that New Year parties on rooftops, terrace, boats, beaches, restaurants, bars and pubs are not allowed. "People are allowed to roam around after 11 pm and essential services will continue to operate," he added.

Elaborating that massive bandobast will be in place and there will be static deployment at various points across the city, Chaitanya said that police patrolling will be intensified and there will be blockades at several places and checking will be done.

"We will keep an eye with the help of drones. Also, nine platoons of the State Reserve Police Force and 600 home guards will also be deployed. The riot control platoon will also be deployed," added Chaitanya.

The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Crime Branch will also conduct checks.

Those violating the guidelines will be booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act and action will be taken accordingly.

The number of Coronavirus cases in the city remained steady around 600, with the officials reporting 578 new infections on Sunday after conducting a little over 10,000 tests on Saturday. The Maharashtra's tally rose to 19,19,550 with 3,314 new cases.