Mumbai: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposed the proposed Mumbai nightlife project, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government may postpone its plan to implement the idea from Republic Day owing to the strain it would put on the police.
The subject will be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting scheduled on January 22, home minister Anil Deshmukh indicated.
Tourism minister and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray on Friday announced that shops, restaurants, malls, and pubs would remain open for 24 hours on an experimental basis in a few areas of Mumbai from January 26. Establishments were expected to remain open all night in Fort and Kala Ghoda in South Mumbai and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in the suburban part of the maximum city.
Speaking with reporters on Sunday, the home minister admitted that there was demand for allowing establishments to be kept open 24x7, but maintained that such a move would prove a handful for the police. “Once pressure is put on the force, what should the increase on police personnel be? These details will be ascertained. Before this, a decision cannot be taken on allowing establishments to run round the clock,” Mr Deshmukh said.
The home minister said a review meeting would be held on the matter, but said it seemed unlikely that the project would begin from January 26.
Mr Deshmukh’s announcement has fuelled talk about there being no coordination between the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.
BJP leader and former Cabinet minister Ashish Shelar on Sunday claimed that his party had originally raised the issues of the consequences of the move on policemen and the safety of women.
Taunting the Shiv Sena, the saffron party leader pointed out that while the NCP had taken cognisance of the tough stance of former home minister R.R. Patil, the Sena had forgotten about its senior leader Pramod Navalkar’s position on nightlife in Mumbai.
In a video that he tweeted on Sunday, Mr Shelar said, “The decision taken by home minister Anil Deshmukh is a big boost to our demand in real terms. Issues such as the burden on policemen due to the nightlife, fear of women security are coming to the fore. I think that today’s NCP remembered the position adopted by former home minister the late RR Patil, but I don’t know when Shiv Sena will be able to remember the position taken by the late Pramod Navalkar. Discos, pubs, bars and restaurants in residential areas will trouble people and our opposition to this will remain!”
