A cop at the site said, “This year, the crowd is very weak. Maybe it is because of the terror attacks, which has dampened the enthusiasm of the public to visit this place but I have never seen such a low turnout ever before.” Despite the low attendance, police personnel were in full gear and had erected barricades and metal detectors to screen visitors. Apart from local police, there was also a team of naval military police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) commandos patrolling the area.

DCP Vishwas Nangre Patil said, “This year, with a view to avoid any incidents of molestation or eve teasing, we erected barricades and separated single men from females and families were given a separate area to view the fireworks. After the molestation incident at the Gateway of India that took place a few years back, maintaining decorum had been one of our priorities.”

However there were some whose spirits could not be dampened. Bharat Kumar, a youth who runs a canteen at Bora Bazaar said, “I have been coming to the Gateway on the 31 st night for the past 6-7 years. I never miss coming here on this day and did not even think of missing it this year.” When asked about the atmosphere of the place, Bharat said, “The number of policemen is more than the number of visitors this year.”

A constable sitting with his colleagues at the Gateway said, “We were told to be in this area till the next morning. Our orders are to stay in this area throughout the night for security reasons.”

Even at the Juhu beach crowds seemed rather thin compared to the year before. Traffic moved at a predictably slow pace at Juhu-Tara road. On the whole it looked more like a Sunday than New Year’s eve.

The road outside J W Marriot was manned by police, armed and unarmed, every 100 metres. Outside Tulip Star private security guards were stationed to make sure that nothing amiss happened.

Senior Police Inspector Deepak Katkade of Juhu Police Station said, “We don’t want to stop people from revelling especially after the kind of things the city has experienced in the last month. I feel that the public should be out celebrating and trying to put the past behind them. We just want to instill confidence in the public and we don’t wish to interfere unless anybody creates nuisance.”

“I come here every year,” said Jamal Khan a final year student from Andheri. “But this year something is missing and there are at least 30% more people here usually. Maybe they are scared. The vendor at Juhu beach felt the real pinch of low attendance. “This has been the worst new year I have seen as far as my business is concerned,” said Ajay Choudhury of Mahalaxmi Chat, a stall that has been running for generations. “It’s not just the business but the crowd that is less this year, people are scared and are not celebrating. I have had this stall for 18 years and this has been by far the worst year for business on New Years Eve,” said Vikas Kadam of Sai Sagar Chat. Choudhury added, “I have had better business on Sundays.