Bengaluru to deploy 20,000 personnel for safe New Year

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said around 20,000 police personnel and officials will be deployed to man Bengaluru to ensure peaceful New Year celebrations, with authorities expecting over 10 lakh people to gather in various parts of the city.

Precautions have been taken to ensure that the celebrations are peaceful and enjoyable, he said and called on people, especially youth, to “celebrate responsibly”. “A crowd of approximately 7-8 lakh people had gathered in different places for New Year celebrations last year; this year, more than ten lakh people are expected,” Parameshwara said. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with police officials, he said the police have identified crowd-prone areas such as — Koramangala, Indira Nagara, Central Business District (CBD) area, and Niladri Road — for new year celebrations.

Detailing arrangements, he said, “Approximately 20,000 police personnel and officials have been deployed to man the city to ensure that the celebrations are peaceful and happy. The deployment includes 14,000 personnel for Law-and-Order maintenance, 2,500 personnel for traffic management, 88 Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons, 21 City Armed Reserve (CAR) platoons, 250 cobra bike personnels among others.”

The minister said emphasis has been laid on women’s safety, crowd management, and advisories have been issued to stakeholders like bars, restaurants, malls, and pubs, among others.  “Security is also a major focus area, keeping in mind the recent Delhi blast, and necessary preventive measures are being taken, and a watch has been kept on the activities of anti-social elements,” he said.

Bars and restaurants have been instructed to strictly adhere to time limits with respect to serving liquor and their activities, and the 1 am deadline will be strictly implemented.

Noting that certain new initiatives have been taken, Parameshwara said.

QR code consisting of all the necessary information has been distributed to pubs, restaurants, malls and public places, among others. Watch towers, focus lights are being installed in identified areas, also access control facilities and vehicle checkpoints are being set up at various places, he said.

Drone cameras will be deployed for surveillance, along with CCTV cameras in addition to what already exists, also safety shelters are being set up in various places, the Home Minister said. Sufficient ambulances and fire tenders are being positioned at places where crowds gather.

“We have also deployed some 2,500 police to manage the traffic,” he said, adding that some buses, cars, and police vehicles have been kept ready, to send stranded people back home in night hours. For the first time, “heatmap” has been introduced in Bengaluru, which will identify places with large crowds in red and relay real-time information to the control or command centre to aid in crowd management, he added. Meanwhile, officials said 2,854 drunk and driving cases have been registered in the last five days as part of a drive in the run-up to the New Year.