Police commissioner says it’s in keeping with the changing city. He wants Pune & Nagpur to be in sync with Mumbai.
Pune’s city police have written to the state government asking for an extension of the time deadline for restaurants and bars from 00.30 hrs to 01.30 hrs as it exists in Mumbai.
“We have requested the government to make the timings on a par with Mumbai. Here in Pune, food and beverages can be served till 11:30 pm (23:30 hrs) and the establishments are supposed close by 12:30 am (00.30 hrs). In Mumbai they have to close by 01.30 hrs. We had asked same thing for Nagpur and we have also demanded the same for Pune. My predecessor had written to the government and I have sent a reminder recently,” said K K Pathak, police commissioner, Pune.
“We cannot crib and start asking everyone to close down at 11. We have to move with the changing social scenario,” Pathak.
“We also must understand that Pune has now become a cosmopolitan city. We also have a large number foreigners, people who have moved here from various parts of the country. If we look at many other cities here and abroad, on a Friday evening people are out on the streets in large numbers. We cannot crib and start asking everyone to close down at 11 (23:00 hrs). We were also students and even today I would like to go out and have cup of tea at 12.30-1 am (23:30-01:00 hrs). Rather in Nagpur there was a proposal that the hotels near railway stations and bus stands be allowed to stay open till late by perhaps paying an additional licence fee. Pune is coming up as an IT city, many people leave offices at timings like 2 am (02:00 hrs). We have to move with the changing social scenario,” he said.
Every year, as the New Year’s Eve approaches, police approach the state government to extend the time limit for the night of December 31.
“This has been a long pending demand. A large number of offices close late in the night. Pune also has a large number of passengers coming in from other cities late into the night and many movie theatres close after late night shows. All these people come to restaurants late and we have send them back because of the deadline. We feel that an extended deadline will solve a lot of problems,” said Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurants and Hoteliers Association.
