CIty cops flex muscles; avoid repeat of NYE 2017

Every New Year's Eve, a sea of folks descend on MG Road and Brigade Road to have a good time. Those who do venture out know that there will likely be a lot of pushing and shoving as the swarm moves on, which is part of the whole party revel in. But, then, last yr, issues allegedly went out of hand, when several women partygoers were molested, branding Bengaluru a city of gropers. Hardest hit, on the time, was the town's police power, which was blamed for the 'poor' protection measures in position. Naturally, that was no longer one thing they sought after to listen to again, on account of which, hotspot stretch Brigade Road was guarded like a castle. When we hit the area to get a really feel of the crowd, what caught our eye to start with was the frilly arrange that the police had made on Brigade Road. For starters, the choice of cops and volunteers virtually numbered as many as the crowd itself. Revelers were allowed access best from the MG Road aspect and exit at Residency Road in that one course, with different access/exit issues at Church Street, and many others., blocked. While the present footpath was reserved for households and ladies, the centre of the street was for the general crowd, which had to stay transferring and depart as soon as imaginable. No one was allowed to linger. Interestingly, the law enforcement officials had additionally created a separate ramp just for police patrol movement, which additionally allowed them to stay a closer eye at the folks and lend a hand anyone who needed to be guided out.

Every from time to time, access into Brigade Road was blocked altogether to allow the crowd to move on prior to more folks joined in. At any given level, the 'scenario' was below regulate.

When the Metro was power close

In keeping with the festivities, Metro rail services operated smartly into the night time (2 am), and it gave the look of many Bengalureans actually heeded the 'do not drink and drive' rule and preferred to use the carrier. But at one level, there have been simply too many people trying to get into the MG Road station to leave the area, such a lot so that officials were compelled to drag the shutters right down to stay them at bay. This, sadly, inconvenienced those that had just arrived at MG Road and were caught inside the station, unable to head out.

Rakesh.Ravindran @timesgroup.com