On January 29, a Saturday, parking at South City Mall was a breeze throughout the day.
Around 4.30pm on February 5, there was hardly a slot available.
The first weekend after relaxations in Covid norms saw brisk business at restaurants, malls and cinema halls.
The state government’s decision to shrink the night curfew by an hour has led to a significant rise in footfall in the food and beverage sector. In non-food retail, the relaxation has not pushed the footfall up significantly. But it has instilled a sense of confidence in Kolkatans, said mall and movie theatre operators.
On January 31, a Nabanna notification said the night curfew would start from 11pm, instead of 10pm, and continue till 5am. The same order increased the capacity at which restaurants and cinema halls could operate from 50 to 75 per cent.
The significant drop in the number of daily new Covid cases in Kolkata has also been instrumental in shooting up people’s confidence. On Friday, Kolkata reported 181 new cases. On January 12, 7,060 new cases had been reported from the city.
Restaurants
On Friday, there were people waiting outside Bar-B-Q, Trinca’s, Peter Cat and Mocambo even at 10pm.
The restaurants along Sarat Bose Road were also busy till almost 10.45pm.
Even a week ago, restaurants would be busy throughout the day but the crowd would start thinning after 8pm and the tables would be deserted at many places after 9pm.
The relaxation of night curfew had an immediate impact, said restaurant owners.
Nitin Kothari, the owner of Mocambo, Peter Cat and Peter Hu? said the additional hour was of “strategic importance”.
“A large section of Indians do not feel hungry before 8.30-9pm. The 10pm-5am curfew had been forcing them to change their habit and come for an early dinner or have the food ordered home. But now, they are coming at their chosen time,” he said.
Malls see a “Business has definitely gone up. We had sought such a relaxation from the government and are thankful,” said Sagar Daryani of Wow! Momo, Wow! China and the vice-president of the National Restaurant Association of India.
Malls
Till the third weekend of January, the visitors to malls would mean people who “genuinely” wanted to buy something.
On Saturday, the walk-in crowd was back, said operators.
Over 65,000 people had turned up at South City Mall on Saturday. The last Saturday before the relaxations saw around 50,000, said an official.
“The number is going up steadily. But the visitors after 8.30pm are mostly headed to restaurants,” said Dip Biswas, the deputy general manager of South City Mall.
Sanjeev Mehra, the vice-president of Quest Mall, said the 11pm deadline did not translate into a significant rise in footfall of shoppers but did a world of good to the confidence of people who wanted to step out.
“Non-food retail is usually lean after 9pm. So, it hardly matters for shoppers if the night curfew sets in from 10pm or 11pm. But the relaxation sends a positive signal — that things are going back to normalcy. Such a message from the government is a big confidence booster,” he said.
Cinema
For cinema halls and multiplexes, the 75 per cent cap means more than an additional hour.
Night shows, which usually started between 9pm and 10pm, were still off the screens. But the extra hour has allowed the operators some flexibility.
“The last show can now begin at 7.15pm, instead of 6.15pm,” said Navin Chokhani, the owner of Navina.
On Saturday, all three shows at his theatre were full houses.
Two big Bengali releases on Friday — Kakababur Protyaborton and Baba Baby O — and a series of films lined up for release in the coming days are keeping hall owners hopeful.
“Footfall has been encouraging. We have been experiencing steady growth every week. The relaxations in the night curbs is helping us to adjust the show timings,” said Amitava Guha Thakurta, regional director, INOX.