Karnataka ushers in New Year peacefully, Bengaluru jostles for space as revellers take to streets

Bengaluru: As usual, it was a long night for the police, while Karnataka ushered in the new year with cakes and parties, selfies and shopping.

Thanks to the watchful eyes of the police, Bengaluru too saw a largely peaceful celebration, despite people jostling for elbow space in high streets. According to Police Commissioner B Dayananda, 11,830 police personnel were deployed last night.

When PTI Videos caught up with the police commissioner on Tuesday night, before the crowd could land, inspecting one of the party hubs, Koramangala, he said they have lit the place well to avoid any mishaps.

“Entire area is lit up for celebrating the new year. Lots of people, especially youngsters from different walks of life, gather here. So, police are also ready for the occasion and we have made adequate arrangements,” he told PTI Videos.

Put off by the milling crowd in streets, pubs and other public spaces, some headed over to Mysuru to celebrate. Koramangala, Brigade Road, Church Street and MG Road, especially, got very crowded as the night wore on.

Traffic, too, remained under control mostly. With Namma Metro chipping in, by increasing the frequencies and the service time, a lot of people used metros. Stations like MG Road, which abut party and shopping areas saw an unusually high footfall, said metro sources. Video of jam-packed metros with people chanting RCB (cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru) for fun are also being circulated in social media platforms.

While house parties and pubs kept Bengalureans busy, tier two cities like Kalaburagi did brisk business in cakes. And if Bengalureans were happy with selfies, in places like Vijayapura, drone cameras could be spotted, capturing bird-eye-view panoramic pictures of the lit cities.

The New Year ushered in warm temperatures too. Bengaluru city recorded 24.24 °C on January 1.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, the minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to be 16.54 °C and 26.23 °C, respectively.