Drone cameras, more CCTVs: Police gears up for New Year eve

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: After a two-year lull due to the pandemicinduced restrictions, the city is finally gearing up for a full-fledged New Year celebrations this year and the cops are taking extra measures to ensure no untoward incidents take place.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy who was on the city rounds to inspect the security measures taken up by the pubs and restaurants in Brigade Road, MG Road and Church Street on Wednesday, said that the police along with the help of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), will keep a tab on the movement of people during the celebrations through drone cameras. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Srinivas Gowda and Additional Commissioner of Police, West, Sandeep Patil, joined the commissioner during the inspection.

“Metal detectors will be installed at the entry points of the street, and like every year, we have banned vehicle entry on MG Road and Brigade Road to ease pedestrian movement,” Pratap Reddy said.

A separate parking space for taxis, cabs, and auto rickshaws has been reserved by the police after discussing the matter with the respective owners of the app-based transport services and unions.

“The state government has allowed the celebrations to be carried out until 1 a.m., and adequate measures have been taken to provide security in these areas. In cooperation with the Bengaluru police, the Brigade Shops and Establishments Association (BSEA) has installed sufficient street lighting and CCTV camera surveillance.

Last week, the city’s top cop issued guidelines on safety precautions and directed all the deputy commissioner of police in the city to take harsh action against mischiefmakers; at the same time, he asked the cops to be courteous with the public when they are in an inebriated state. Sufficient teams of police personnel have also been deployed at areas such as Koramangala and HSR Layout which are major among the hotspots for party lovers here.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, South East, CK Baba said, “There are around 106 hotels and restaurants including 39 pubs in the south-east division which we have divided into eight sectors for police deployment.

With only two days left for the celebrations, CCTV cameras have been checked and will be monitored by the police.” The DCP also said that he has directed the hotels, pubs, and restaurants to also appoint female bouncers for women’s safety