The possibility of Mumbai’s nightlife coming alive has brought about much enthusiasm but it has also raised some eyebrows. First, does extended night life refer to only pubs and bars or does it extend to shops, restaurants and general merry-making on the streets?
I asked Mumbai’s police chief Rakesh Maria how the Mumbai police viewed this. He said that plans to extend Mumbai’s night’s life were not across the board; they were strictly on a case to case basis, expressly excluding all residential areas and would be progressive from a policing point of view.
Young people with disposable incomes would have an opportunity to hang out, de-stress and relax. The constabulary and officers, he said; “ought to be preventing nocturnal crime instead of running around checking whether bars had closed down,” adding, “not only does that lead to corruption but divided accountability too.”
The Phoenix mall in Bandra Kurla was given by him as an example. “Were establishments in the BKC Mill Mall complex to stay open until dawn, it would neither affect residents’ sleep nor create a parking problem.”