The appeal was made to the state chief secretary considering the government has recently announced to withdraw the Covid-induced night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am in view of Durga Puja which begins on October 11.

“We have urged the government to extend the closing time, which is now 10.30 pm, by an hour as many pandal hoppers will not be hitting the road in way they did in the pre-COVID years with the Calcutta High Court and administration declaring the pandals as no entry zones,” Nitin Kothari, the owner of the famous ‘Peter Cat’ and ‘Mocambo’ restaurants in downtown Park Street, told PTI. 

Kothari said while the restaurants have been witnessing good response in the past few months, the extension of dining out hours during the festival will beneficial for both the restaurants and the customers. 

“Even in June when the restaurant closing deadline was 8 pm, people were adjusting dining hours from usual 7 pm-9 pm to 5 pm-8 pm. When the government relaxed the timing from 8 pm to 10:30 pm, it helped both diners and and us. If the hours can be extended for another hour from October 10 or 11 to October 16, nothing can be better,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Shiladitya Chowdhury, owners of ‘Oudh 1590’ and ‘Chowman’, told PTI, “We have requested the government if the deadline can be extended by some more time. We are yet to get any positive response.” 

However, if the 10:30 pm deadline continues, the restaurant outlets will continue parcel food delivery till 2 am, Chowdhury added. 

The president of Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India, Sudesh Poddar said “With a section of people looking for an alternative to pandal hopping, especially in the late evening hours, we anticipate there will be a crowd before popular eating zones. This we are speaking from experience.”

(With inputs from PTI)