New Year arrives with a bang

Festive mood prevailed across the city as Bengalureans hailed the New Year; the Central Business District including Brigade Road and MG Road came alive with revellers as a heavy posse of cops keep wat

Families came together to celebrate the night on Brigade Road | NAGESH POLALI

BENGALURU: THE City welcomed 2018 with fervour and joy. While many revelers were at the central business district partying, several others chose to spend time on vacations and resorts outside the City.
Revellers hit the Central Business District in thousands as pubs ran out of space to host them. Lit bright and secured with the deployment of police, Brigade Road and MG Road came alive with lakhs of them cheering to welcome the new year.

A similar festive mood persisted across the City with many hitting Koramangala, Indiranagar and BEL Road to celebrate.On Brigade Road, by 11.30pm, police had no choice but to block way for people wanting to enter there to avoid any untoward incident as the footfall grew multi-fold.

Thousands gather near Cauvery Junction to celebrate New Year on Sunday night; A drone camera surveys Brigade Road; Revellers dance to ring in the New Year on MG Road; Traffic near MG Road is thrown out of gear after the revellers disperse  | nagesh polali, nagaraja gadekal

CCTV cameras installed by the police drew attention for another reason. With screens having been installed right at the spot, many also waved at the CCTV cameras only to be seen on the screen. Drones which hoovered over Brigade Road, were also fascinating for visitors.Deepa, a visitor, said, “Security has been managed well here.”

Visitors also drew parallels to celebrations in other cities. Swadhin Nair, another reveller said, “Last year, my new year was in Kerala on the beach. It was better there as I sense that it is much safer there. We were not concerned about molestation incidents.”

Lathicharge

A lathicharge took place at Cauvery Junction near Brigade Road soon after it was was closed for people after being over crowded. Unable to manage the rush, police took to caning to drive the revelers away.
Some people also took to the street to protest. A group that gathered through social media, stood near Cauvery Junction seeking that Kulbhushan Jadhav be released by Pakistan soon.

Kannada awareness

Kannada Deshadol team, a group of 30 members had gathered on MG Road. With the footfall being high, the team hoped to spread awareness about the need to converse in Kannada. Harish Arasu from the team said, “We have been doing this from the last three years. Since we see good crowd around this time, we are standing with placards.”

Traffic jam

Traffic was disrupted in several parts of the City just around the stroke of midnight forcing many to welcome new year amidst blaring horns. Traffic continued to pile on MG Road even at the stroke of midnight as no restrictions were imposed.