Ban New Year’s Eve revelry in pubs, on streets: BBMP to govt

A day after the state government’s Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 warned of a second wave of infections in January-February, the BBMP said it had sought a ban on New Year’s Eve celebrations in pubs, bars, restaurants and on streets.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Revenue Minister R Ashoka held a meeting with BBMP officials on allowing the celebrations, which draw thousands of revellers to Bengaluru’s party hubs, especially MG Road, Brigade Road, Commercial Street and the surrounding areas. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said that they expressed concerns about permitting the revelry.

According to Prasad, the number of Covid-19 infections in the city has come from 6,000 a day a few months ago to about just 600 now, largely because crowding was not permitted during Ganesha Chaturthi, Navarathri and Deepavali festivals.

“We are now in the winter, which is conducive to the spread for the coronavirus. We have requested the government to not allow crowding during New Year’s Eve celebrations,” he explained. “We hope the government takes a suitable decision.”

He noted that most pubs and restaurants, which can accommodate just about 50 people each, attract hundreds of people during the New Year's Eve celebrations, making social-distancing nearly impossible.

Prasad said they didn’t have any objections to pubs doing business by enforcing the mask rule, using sanitisers and maintaining social distance, but warned that special programmes that attract large crowds would lead to more infections, which would be difficult to control.