Immersion of thousands of Ganesh idols begins in Telangana

Hyderabad: The immersion of thousands of Lord Ganesh idols in water bodies, following the conclusion of nine-day Ganesh Chaturthi festivities, began in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana on Tuesday.

An estimated one lakh idols have been set up for worship this year in the city.

The Telangana government has made elaborate arrangements for the immersion of the idols.

The 'Shobha Yatra' of the 70 ft-tall Ganesh statue of the famous pandal at Khairatabad here, a major attraction during the Ganesh Chaturthi in the Telangana capital, also began on Tuesday morning and the immersion of the giant statue in the Hussain Sagar lake is likely to take place by noon.

The auction of the laddus offered as 'prasadam' in the pandals is another attraction in the festivities. Procuring the laddu in the auction is believed to bring prosperity to the successful bidder.

Media reports said the laddu 'prasadam' at a pandal at Bandlaguda Jagir was auctioned for a whopping Rs 1.87 crore.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday held a review with senior officials, including police, on the arrangements for the immersion and directed that special supervision be made at the Tank Bund of Hussain Sagar lake and other water bodies, an official release said.

At the meeting, the police officials told the CM that the immersion in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits would be supervised with 733 CCTV cameras.

GHMC Commissioner Amrapali Kata said a total of 15,000 personnel, including sanitation, engineering and others, would work in three shifts for 24 hours for the immersion event.

As many as 468 cranes have already been set up for the immersion.

Around 25,000 police personnel would be deployed as part of the security arrangements for the Ganesh festival.

The Hyderabad traffic police put in place traffic restrictions for the smooth conduct of the 'visarjan' of idols, which is expected to go on for 24 hours.