Visitors to Tiger's Point at 1am face police action

PUNE: Several visitors and operational stalls were found at the Tiger's Point in Lonavla at 1am on Sunday in an open flouting of restrictions during a surprise police check.
Assistant superintendent of police Satya Sai Karthik led a Pune rural police team which took action against four stalls running beyond permissible hours. Fourteen tourists playing loud music and drinking alcohol in the open were also punished as per the Maharashtra Police Act.
Many tourist points in Lonavla witness huge crowds of visitors on weekends and holidays. People party till late at night into the morning in the open despite the concerned authorities banning such behaviour.
Meanwhile, Karthik told TOI, "Stalls at Lonavla's tourist points are not allowed to operate after 7pm. During our surprise visit, we found many open and took action against the owners. Besides, several visitors were found playing loud music and drinking alcohol in the open, and we hauled them up as well."
He said that teams from local police stations often conduct surprise visits to these locations and round up those found violating the rules. "Since it is forest land with a deep valley, any unfortunate incident could occur - especially with people consuming alcohol," Karthik added.
Regional forest officer Hanumant Jadhav told TOI, "Tiger's Point and Lion's Point are open to tourists only between 6am and 6pm. Stall owners can only operate during these hours. We take action against all violators. We seize their sound systems and stall material."
He also said a gate has been installed near the Lion's Point to prevent entry of tourists. However, they open it easily and enter - reaching the point located around 300 metre away. In the past, the forest department had also seized tobacco, cigarettes and hookah material from these locations. There are no guards deployed at the gate, but a team from the forest department patrols the spot and stays alert.