Hotel security, CCTVs to guard beaches tonight

Mumbai: With the 26/11 terror attack still fresh in their mind, owners of seafront hotels in and around the city are taking no chances this New Year's Eve.

From putting beach areas under CCTV surveillance to stationing hotel security staff there to assist the police, hoteliers are pulling out all stops to ensure the security of their guests.

"The 26/11 attackers used the sea route to attack hotels and the fact that a red alert has been sounded by the police because of suspected LeT terrorists infiltrating the city has only added to our fears," said Anuj Prakash, general manager of The Resort at Malad.

"We will be deploying 33 hotel security staff at the beaches to lend a helping hand to the police. Our beach entrance gate will have our own security personnel as well as two armed policemen.

This, of course, is apart from the standard security measures like frisking guests and having metal detectors in place to check luggage," he added.

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"The police department has assured us that one of their vehicles will be stationed at the beach for patrolling. Compared to 20 men last year, they will have nearly 70 personnel manning the beach this year. We have also trained our staff to handle hoax calls and e-mails," said Prakash.

Hotels like The Retreat in Madh Island, on the other hand, have invested heavily in CCTV cameras to record movements within the hotel and on the beach.

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"Our hotel is going to be under strict camera surveillance. We have also installed CCTV cameras on the beachfront so that each and every movement near the beach is captured," said Jack Alvas, the hotel's general manager.

"Security has been beefed up inside the hotel and we are not permitting any guests to stay without submitting their photo identity proofs. Guests' details and ID proofs are asked for at the time of booking itself," he added.

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Some resort owners like Prakash Motwani of Manori Resort have decided to do away with New Year parties altogether in view of the threat.

"We have not organised any party or theme night as we don't want to take any chances. We will, however, be providing all services to guests who are staying with us for the New Year period," said Motwani.

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We have no problems with submitting our details to the hotels as it is matter of our security. We are, instead, happy to see hotels becoming so stringent about these things.

The Mumbai police recently called for a meeting with owners of all hotels which are situated on or near the seafront asking them to up their security preparedness. They have also issued a 14-point directive to all hotels for New Year's Eve.