Thackeray counters BJP’s killjoy ways with entertainment map stretching from Nariman Point to Malad.A week after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrote to city police commissioner Rakesh Maria seeking withdrawal of approval granted to the city’s nightlife plan, the Shiv Sena has created its own designs for Mumbai’s night-time entertainment. Party sources said the outline lists a set of locations that it believes should be the city’s hotspots after dark.These include several mills, malls and commercial hubs stretching from Nariman Point to Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Malad in the suburbs (see map). The Sena’s youth wing leader, Aditya Thackeray, who has championed the plan, will submit it to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis soon, party sources said.Thackeray’s party, which has skirmished frequently with its alliance partner in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the BJP, has blamed it with “needlessly politicising” the issue of Mumbai’s nightlife, with specific reference to the BJP’s contention that a city with a ceaseless nightlife will prove to be the bane of its citizens. “We are not in favour of alcoholism or against local residents. We are in favour of taking no-objection certificates from residents where required. To say that allowing these places to be open all night will increase nuisance and antisocial activities is simply raising doubts about the integrity of Mumbaikars, the Home Ministry and the police,” Thackeray told Mumbai Mirror. “This proposal seeks to be the economic and social revival of Mumbai, making it affordable and likeable to each and every Mumbaikar.”To achieve this, the plan suggests that the police allow those establishments within the precincts of malls – eateries, shops, gaming and sports centres – to operate through the night. “Local residents and tourists can avail of these facilities,” the proposal states, adding that malls, being “more organised in terms of parking and security”, lend themselves to such a project.Besides this, the Sena’s plan also includes allowing a 24x7-chemist and milk vending shop in each municipal ward. Similarly, it suggests that shops and eateries located in a 100-metre zone near railway stations be open all night, and the creation of pedestrianonly sections in neighbourhoods like Kala Ghoda.The Sena’s proposal also incorporates labour laws and regulations. “Although in the designated special entertainment zones, no further license shall be needed, the eateries and shops will be under tight scrutiny of traffic rules, garbage rules and labour laws of employing three shifts. Those found violating can be struck off from carrying any further activity in the zone,” it specifies.The BJP’s principal assertion is that such a plan will cause “law and order” troubles in mixed commercial-residential neighbourhoods. Colaba MLA Raj Purohit, who has led the charge against the project, asked of Maria in a letter: “We want to know if traffic signals will be on the whole night and how will the short-staffed traffic police man them. Petty crimes are on the rise, are the police going to have a special team to handle nightlife? All this nightlife will cause serious breach of peace, how are the cops going to tackle that?”Thackeray, who met Fadnavis last month and claims he has received the CM’s approval, has responded to the BJP’s tirade by invoking the maxim that Mumbai is a city that throbs with life at night. “To say nightlife in Mumbai is absent is roaming around with eyes closed. Nightlife goes on behind close doors, some of these behind the doors activities lead to dangers rising,” he said. “More people on the streets, more legal activities at night would mean safer Mumbai. Mumbai's strength is safety and we need to harness it for Mumbai's growth. This plan means more employment, more revenue to the government, boost to business and economy and mainly, a time zone to chill for hard working Mumbaikars and tourists.”