Discos, pubs across Mumbai to be shut soon

In a bid to avoid the further spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Mumbai police will soon shut down discotheques and pubs across the city as part of precautionary measures.

The Maharashtra government has already issued orders to shut down places such as pubs and discotheques where chances of mass gatherings are the highest. Therefore, cops are currently surveying the places in their areas where a large number of people gather often. Once the surveying is done, they will initiate action and ask the owners to shut down the places until further notice.

Joint Commissioner of Police Vinoy Kumar Choubey said, "All the zonal deputy commissioner of police (DCPs) have been told to conduct checks at most crowded places such as pubs and discotheques in their zones and order them to shut down to avoid public gathering."

Also, in a bid to discourage mass gatherings at beaches and other tourist destinations in the city, the police were seen requesting people to not assemble at any one place on Monday.

Accordingly, Juhu beach was cleared off people on Monday.

"The entry to visitors at Juhu beach has been permanently blocked in the wake of Coronavirus. This precautionary step has been taken for the welfare of people at large," Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional CP (West) Region said.

Shriram Koregaonkar, senior inspector, Santa Cruz police station said, "The influx of tourists at Juhu beach in weekdays is 3,000 whereas their number spikes to 10,000 during the weekend. Keeping this in mind, we have blocked the entry of people at the beach."

Further, cops have asked tourists in South Mumbai to visit Gateway of India and other tourist destinations in the city with facemasks and hand sanitisers.

Meanwhile, sources at Mantralaya told mid-day that the discussion with different stakeholders was underway to either permanently suspend public transport such as local trains and buses or reduce their frequency.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!