Thick security in Bengaluru ahead of ‘Tipu Jayanti’ event
BENGALURU: The city has come under a thick security blanket ahead of the ‘Tipu Jayanti’ celebrations organised across the state by the government tomorrow to mark the birth anniversary of the 18th century ruler of the Mysore Kingdom.
A large number of policemen have been deployed in the sensitive places.
No procession will be allowed in the city that is related to Tipu Jayanti, except for the one organised by the state government, according to police.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said, “We are not giving permission to any procession, whether it is in favour of Tipu Jayanti or against it. The government itself is celebrating the event in various parts of the city for which we have made elaborate arrangements.”
He said 30 Karnataka State Reserved Police (KSRP) platoons and 25 armed platoons, besides policemen and officers of city police will be deployed.
“There will be more than 11,000 policemen all over the city. Besides the regular police, we will deploy Home Guard personnel,” Suneel Kumar said.
He said there will be celebrations only at the places identified by the government, adding that the police would deal firmly with those who plan to create trouble.
“We have not made any preventive arrests so far but if the situation rises, section 144 (prohibitory order) may be imposed,” Kumar said.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government started celebrating Tipu Jayanti two years ago.
The BJP, some right wing groups and the members of Kodava community are opposing the celebrations alleging that Tipu was a religious “bigot” who had massacred many people and forced them to embrace Islam. MUMBAI: A fire broke out in an empty monorail train this morning in the city leading to halting of services but there were no casualties, officials said. Service will resume after all trains undergo checks and the tracks and other equipment are declared safe, they said.
The empty mono was going from Wadala depot to Chembur station before the start of service when it caught fire and two coaches were affected, an official said.
It seems the coach caught fire when the motorman applied brakes, said Dilip Kawathkar, Joint Project Director of MMRDA, the nodal agency which operates the transport system.
The exact reason behind the fire would be known only after an inquiry, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) official said.
However, a fire brigade official said, “Prima facie, it looks like the blaze was caused by a short circuit”.
Another official said that monorail services in the metropolis were halted till further orders after the train caught fire at Mysore Colony station in Chembur early this morning.
“We have put the services on hold till the tracks, and other equipment are declared safe. It may take 24 to 36 hours for the services to resume,” the official said.
All monorail trains will undergo checks, he said.
Kawathkar said, “At around 5 am, a coach of an empty monorail train caught fire at Mysore Colony station before the start of the services.”
“This train was to start the day s services from Chembur and prima facie it seems it caught fire when motorman applied brakes,” Kawathkar said.
The exact reason behind the fire would be known only after an inquiry, the MMRDA official said.
An independent committee has been set up to ascertain the cause of the fire,” he said, adding since it was early morning, there was no rush at the station when the fire broke out and therefore no commuter was injured. BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has embarked on ‘Mission Green Mahanadi’ programme and decided to plant two crore saplings along the river banks.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the project would nurture the lifeline of the state.
“Glad to announce Mission Green Mahanadi for protecting and nurturing the lifeline of Odisha; over two crore trees to be planted along its banks,” he wrote in a Twitter post on Thursday.