Confusion prevails over imposition of night curfew

Hoteliers seek immediately clarity in view of the New Year celebrations

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Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 28

The indecisiveness of the UT Administration over the imposition the night curfew in the city is weighing heavy on the minds of hoteliers.

Reeling under heavy losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hoteliers have urged the UT Administration to clarify the doubts on the issue as any decision to impose the night curfew at this stage would adversely affect their businesses.

Amid fears of spread of new strain of coronavirus, which has been detected in the UK, the UT Administration has been mulling a proposal to impose the night curfew in the city for a few days during the New Year celebrations.

“Health indeed is the highest priority, but if the night curfew has to be imposed, the decision should have been taken much earlier,” said Man Mohan Singh, chairman, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh.

He said the hospitality industry was slowly limping back to normalcy and any short-notice decision would cause considerable losses to the units endeavouring to organise New Year’s Eve parties. All the same, all laid out precautions must be observed and no compromise could be made over the safety guidelines, he added.

Ankit Gupta, president, Chandigarh Hospitality Association, and joint secretary, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India, said: “The hospitality industry has been facing losses, retrenchment and imminent closure of several outlets. We request the Administration not to impose any night curfew during New Year’s time as the industry follows all Covid protocols.”

Amid confusion prevailing over the imposition of the night curfew, customers have started cancelling advance booking already made to hotels and restaurants, said Arvinder Pal Singh, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh.

“There is no justification in imposing restrictions over the fear of spread of coronavirus when thousands of farmers are sitting on a dharna on the borders of the National Capital,” he said.

Amanjeet Singh, a resident of Sector 7, said hardy three days were left and he was yet to decide whether he should celebrate the New Year with friends. The Administration should have taken such decisions in advance so that people could have planned their evening accordingly, he added.

Arsh Verma and Paali Sharma, owners of Para Club, Industrial Area, Phase 1, said they had to make a lot of arrangements for the New Year parties. “Amid confusion over the imposition of the night curfew, we were unable to take advance bookings and now, people have started moving towards hotels in Haryana,” they said.

However, a senior official said that there was plan to impose the night curfew till now. Instead, the hoteliers would be asked to strictly follow the Covid-19 protocol, he added.