The police started doing rounds announcing the 10 p.m. deadline in a public addressal systems and asked establishments to close down as the night curfew kicked in from Tuesday night. As it was the first day, the police did not book violators and convinced them to close down.
“We only created awareness on Tuesday night. We will enforce the night curfew strictly from Wednesday and book violators. We will also barricade all flyovers and major junctions from Wednesday night to prevent any traffic movement,” said B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner (Traffic), Bengaluru. Traffic police have also launched a strict drunken driving testing campaign from Tuesday.
City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said all violators will be booked with cases under National Disaster Management Act from Wednesday night. “Anybody travelling on the road beyond the deadline will have to furnish suitable documents to justify their presence on the road,” he said.
Those working night shifts can produce their work identity cards and those with any health emergency will be allowed, sources said.
Extension sought
There has been opposition to the night curfew deadline, especially from the hospitality industry, which has been demanding the extension of the deadline to 11 p.m. The Bengaluru Chapter of National Restaurants Association of India has made a representation to the government.
“There is already a restriction of 50% occupancy, which essentially kills the Christmas-New Year season. On top of that, a deadline of 10 p.m. means we will have to start winding up by 9 p.m. if our patrons have to reach home by the deadline. This will wipe out the entire dinner scene, which is when we hope to do some good business,” said Ajay Nagarajan, CEO, Windmills, a restaurant and pub.
Chandrashekhar Hebbar, President, Karnataka Regional Hotels’ and Restaurants’ Federation, said the night curfew was “unscientific” and failed to produce any results in the past two years. “The government had imposed a night curfew from 10 p.m. at least twice earlier and extended it to 11 p.m. Why make the same mistake again,” he questioned.
Meanwhile, auto and taxi drivers, and those going to the city’s markets to buy vegetables for retail shops early in the morning, have also complained that the night curfew - from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. - will adversely impact them. “We usually reach the market by 4 a.m. and be back to open the shops by 6 a.m. A delay will have a snowball effect throughout the day, for milk, newspapers, vegetables, etc,” said Rajashekhar, who runs a grocery store in Vidyaranyapura.
