Mumbai

Shiv Sena

Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai Police

Sanjay Barve

Praveen Pardeshi

Here’s good news for Mumbaikars! Known to be the city that never sleeps,can soon live up to the tag.In a bid to make Mumbai’s nightlife more vibrant, the proposal to allow shopping malls and restaurants to remain open 24X7 has been approved by the government.The decision for this move was taken in one of the recent meetings chaired byleader and Tourism MinisterThe meeting was attended byCommissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chiefand several representatives of malls, hotels and restaurants.“Malls, multiplexes, shops and restaurants can remain open round-the-clock in Mumbai for the people. The plan was supposed to be executed by the end of this month but Aaditya Thackeray insisted that this should be followed from January 26,” Anurag Katriar, President of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), who was also present at the meeting, told Mirror Online.“The security of visitors and customers at hotels will also be taken care of. Malls will deploy their respective security staff on duty. Also, after 1:30 am hotels will not be allowed to serve alcohol and only food items will be served,” Katriar added.Mumbai Police and BMC chief have also given a nod to the proposal. “Mumbai Police have also suggested certain guidelines for traffic management and security in the meeting which took place yesterday,” he added.Some of the malls from the city that have agreed for the 24x7 implementation are Atria Mall in Worli, R-City Mall in Ghatkopar, Growel’s 101 in Kandivali, Phoenix Market City in Kurla, High Street Phoenix in Lower Parel and Oberoi Mall in Goregaon.In June 2016, the Union government had approved a model law that allows shops, malls, and cinema halls among other establishments to remain open 24 hours. Soon after its clearance, the Shiv Sena had said that it was Aaditya Thackeray’s idea that the Centre had cleared.