Muted New Year festivities, Mumbai quiet

Scanners, blocked roads and tight security will temper New Year revelries across India on Wednesday as fear of terrorist violence hangs over the country after last month's Mumbai attacks.

Scanners, blocked roads and tight security will temper New Year revelries across India on Wednesday as fear of terrorist violence hangs over the country after last month’s Mumbai attacks.

An unprecedented security blanket covered the country’s main cities this week, underscoring the collective jitters of a nation after terrorists attacked and killed 179 people in its financial capital.

While Mumbai was the worst attack, in all more than 400 people have been killed in about a dozen terrorist attacks in 2008 across India. An economic slowdown has also dampened usually extravagant celebrations in Mumbai.

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“It’s going to be a quiet evening for me and a bunch of friends at home. We have no plans to party,” said 24-year-old Nirbhay Kanoria.

Kanoria would be hard-pressed to find places to party, with most luxury hotels and clubs cancelling star-studded bashes and sticking to low-key live music bands and dinner.

At the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of two luxury hotels that was attacked by terrorists last month, the poolside has been opened to visitors, and restaurants will offer special menus, a spokesman said, including from the restaurants that were damaged.

While the celebrations for the city’s well-heeled may go on well into the night, the more popular hangouts such as the Gateway of India and the Marine Drive promenade, where firework displays are common, would wind down revelries after midnight.

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“This year, the mood is likely to be a bit subdued because the thought of the attacks might be weighing on people’s minds,” said K L Prasad, a senior police officer in Mumbai.

“Extra forces have been called and there will be an increased police presence throughout Mumbai,” he said.

Lavish parties on yachts and midnight ferry rides will be missing in 2008, with a heightened alert in place after the Mumbai attackers made their way into the city by boat.

Marine police and the coastguard will patrol the harbour and be in touch with the Navy, which cancelled its Navy Week celebrations and annual ball.

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Security is tight in other Indian cities as well, including capital New Delhi where police are locking down popular landmarks such as Connaught Place and the lawns of India Gate after sunset and asking bars and pubs to close by midnight.

Traffic will be regulated in all the major cities and people will be frisked and stopped to check for drink driving.

There would be about 60,000 police on the roads of New Delhi alone, while thousands of them will patrol the streets of Mumbai and Kolkata.

Surveillance cameras and a large number of plainclothes police will be deployed at popular spots in Kolkata, said Shivaji Ghosh, a senior police official.