The city police have asked all hotels and resorts to wind up New Year’s celebrations by 1 a.m.
Additional Commissioner of Police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal, along with other senior police officers, held a meeting with managers and representatives of hotels, clubs and resorts on Wednesday to explain the restrictions.
“The meeting was to ensure an incident-free New Year’s eve. We told them to follow all rules, guidelines and licence conditions that stipulate time for serving liquor,” Mr. Agarwal told The Hindu.
“Organisers of festivities should obtain proper permission, follow all safety requirements and intall CCTV units to cover all areas. We re-emphasised the need to install CCTV units at all entry and exit points, even on roads leading from the premises and specifically in the bar area,” he said.
“We have told them to not turn a blind eye to illegal activities, including consumption of drugs, and to inform the police,” Mr. Agarwal said.
Action to be taken
“In case they don’t inform us and if it comes to our notice, we will definitely proceed against them,” he added.
Those with a 12-hour licences should stop liquor service by midnight, while those with a 24-hour licence can continue to serve beyond midnight. But, the celebrations would have to end by 1 a.m.
Representatives of hotels were also told to deploy a sufficient number of drivers so their guests could avoid drunk driving and accidents.
“We are going to deploy a sufficient number of bouncers, security guards and drivers to avoid untoward incidents. We are going to frisk the guests properly when they enter the hotels,” said V. Suresh, manager of a hotel.
Hotel staff were also told not to erect any stage or pandal near swimming pools. Pandals or stages could be erected only after obtaining permission from authorities.
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