Hyderabad: Pub-goers in the city are looking to late-night and more importantly, loud club experiences from this weekend, as the High Court lifted the ban on loud music after 10 pm for most clubs.
IT professionals heaved a sigh of relief, as most were unable to unwind over the weekend due to the curb. Some said they travelled to other cities for late-night parties.
Anusha Rao, a software engineer from Madhapur, said, “There are specific WhatsApp groups and debates over where to go on weekends to party as the week progresses and the time cap was a huge downer for us. With hectic work hours and multiple projects, weekends are all we have and being home by 11 pm left us with nothing much to do.”
Kunal Mani, a private employee from Bangalore who shifted to Hyderabad last year, said, “The decision to stop parties by 10 pm was not taken well. I actually travelled to Bangalore for two weekends last month just to enjoy the pub culture. But the nightlife in Hyderabad is beautiful and I am looking forward to partying late again.”
Pub owners were also a relieved lot, as many suffered a loss.
“We received a circular on Tuesday, stating that only 10 pubs in the residential areas of Jubilee Hills, which were pulled up for noise pollution in April 2021, will have to shut by 10 pm. It does not make sense for other establishments to suffer. The industry took a hit for the last month and a half due to early shutdowns,” a spokesperson for a pub in Gachibowli said.
A pub owner in Jubilee Hills said, “Apart from having a positive impact on the industry and the economy of the city, all stakeholders will benefit. The whole chain, including the government, benefits due to added tax and excise collections. The staff benefit from added shifts and the public gets to have a vibrant nightlife.”
On September 12, a single-judge bench of the Telangana High Court had banned all pubs from playing loud music after 10 pm, but the decision was overturned on October 31, with the ban extending only to select clubs.
The Cyberabad traffic police, meanwhile, said they are geared up to check drunk driving.
“The drives are already taking place on weekends from 10.30 pm to 4 am at police station levels. We will now have clusters in junctions with different police stations coming together to group up and catch violators,” Cyberabad traffic DCP Srinivas Rao said.
