Gearing up for New Year celebrations in the city, Chennai City Police have announced a 1 am-curfew on the January 1 for restaurants and other party spaces. Speaking to TNM, an official from Chennai Commissioner of Police said, “We had a meeting with all the hotel owners in the city on Wednesday and informed them that all celebrations should be wound up by 1 am on January 1.”
The official also added that bandobast teams will be deployed, as usual, on New Year’s Eve to make sure all rules and regulations are followed. The hotel owners have also been requested to follow license rules and regulations in the timings when it comes to serving liquor.
In a report by The Hindu, Additional Commissioner of Police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal was quoted saying, “We have told hotel owners in the city to not turn a blind eye to illegal activities, including consumption of drugs, and to inform the police.”
The report also mentions that the hotels are being requested to deploy a sufficient number of drivers to help their guests avoid drunk driving and accidents.
Hotels will have to obtain necessary permissions from officials to put up pandals or stages for the festivities.
This rule came into place after a tragic accident in the city in 2008. On December 31, 2007, just a few minutes before midnight, the wooden plank above a swimming pool in Savera Hotels collapsed and nearly 70 people fell into the pool, eventually claiming the lives of three guests.
Six years later, in 2013, the Court acquitted all the six accused in the case after several witnesses turned hostile during the trial.
As per reports from last year, the city recorded over five deaths and more than 300 injured in road accidents and related incidents. There was a sharp spike in trauma cases between 11 pm and 2 am according to doctors, who said that accidents accounted for 80% of the cases.