City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi’s Twitter handle, @CPBlr, came in handy for this father in Kundalahalli to drop his daughter for a medical entrance examination in Malleswaram on Saturday, amid fears of disturbance during the bandh in the city on Saturday.
Uday Menon (@Uday47) tweeted Mr. Reddi early morning enquiring whether it was safe for him to travel by personal transport from Kundalahalli to Malleswaram where his daughter Meghana was to attend Manipal University’s medical entrance exam.
Minutes after the Commissioner replied to the tweet saying it was safe, Bengaluru City Police contacted Mr. Menon on Twitter and helped him navigate through the city.
Mr. Menon tweeted through his journey giving updates, for instance, about activists stopping two-wheelers and deflating tyres, on which the police acted.
After he reached Malleswaram with his daughter, Mr. Menon tweeted, “Situation very calm n peaceful. Good to see ur personnel alert at their posts enroute (sic).”
Mr. Menon told The Hindu that Twitter had turned out to be a wonderful platform and the Commissioner being accessible on the micro-blogging site gave citizens a great sense of security. “I felt I live in a better city today,” he said.
Mr. Reddi told The Hindu that Twitter helped him cut through various levels of administration and get feedback from the ground. He added that it was also empowering to the citizens that the top brass of the city police could be contacted anytime.