Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar has urged residents, particularly young people and parents, not to hold midnight birthday celebrations or cut cakes at Tank Bund, major roads, ponds and parks after a road accident there killed a six-year-old child and a family member.
In a video message, Sajjanar said birthday celebrations intended to be happy occasions were instead causing irreparable losses to families because of impulsiveness and negligence. He said the recent accident occurred at about 2 am on Tank Bund, where a family had gone to celebrate the child’s birthday.
The police reached the location after receiving information about the crash and took the injured to hospital, but their efforts could not save them, according to the Commissioner’s account. The deaths have prompted the city police to renew warnings against using public roads and open spaces for midnight celebrations.
Sajjanar said he had inspected the accident site with senior police officers and that strong preventive measures were being planned to stop similar incidents. He added that a comprehensive review had been conducted in coordination with various government departments to address accident risks at Tank Bund.
The Commissioner said birthday celebrations were personal family events and should be held at home or in other safe locations. He also pointed to the risk created by lighter traffic late at night, which can encourage vehicles to travel at excessive speeds. Bringing children onto roads at that time, he said, creates additional danger.
Midnight cake-cutting events at Tank Bund are already prohibited under existing rules, Sajjanar said, while the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has issued instructions on the matter in the past. Despite police personnel repeatedly sending people away, some visitors return later at night to hold celebrations, he said.
The warning places responsibility on both families organising such gatherings and people travelling through the area at night. Tank Bund is a major public waterfront and road corridor, where the combination of open public space, late-night gatherings and fast-moving traffic has become a recurring safety concern, according to the Commissioner’s message.
Sajjanar appealed to residents to cooperate with the city police and avoid actions that could put lives at risk for what he described as momentary pleasure. The police and other government departments are expected to proceed with the preventive measures identified in their review of the Tank Bund accident site.
