Hyderabad: One doesn’t have to take permission from the police to install Ganeshas, an intimation should be enough, said representatives of Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Committee at a press meet on Wednesday.
“It is a fundamental right to practise religion and installation of idols is our belief. We shouldn’t be asked to pay electricity bills too,” said Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi’s general secretary Mr Bhagwanth Rao.
The organisers of pandals will intimate about the installation of an idol and the police should stop “harassing” them in the name of seeking permissions, Mr Rao said.
Responding to the same, a senior police official from the city said, “The department is acting in the best interest of public and applying for permission shouldn’t be viewed in such a light. It is just an application and nothing more.”
Mr Rao said that Vinayaka Chaturthi will be celebrated from September 17 with installation idols of Lord Ganesha and immersions will take place on September 27 at Hussainsagar and other water bodies here.
Around 1 lakh Ganesh pandals will be set up in and around Hyderabad this year, he said.
In view of Liberation Day celebrations on September 17, the tricolor will be hoisted at all the pandals, he said.
Rejecting the contention of idols polluting Hussainsagar, he said the High Court had earlier directed concerned authorities to immediately remove idols after immersion. Mr Rao further demanded that the state Endowment Department should take up cultural activities at pandals from the budget issued for Ganeshotsav.
Mr Rao also cautioned people against DJs stating that it was a religious festival and not an entertainment programme.
Ahead of Vinayaka Chaturthi, BJP MP Yogi Adityanath will address a gathering during the “Hindu Chetana Sabha”, slated to be held here on September 13.
“Yogi Adityanath will be chief guest for the event which is being organised at NTR Stadium and it will also be addressed by several other saints,” said Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International’s president Mr G. Raghava Reddy.
Around 40,000 people are expected to take part in the programme, Mr Reddy said, adding that the Hyderabad police had granted permission to Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, under whose aegis the event is being organised.
The 42-year-old MP from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, who was scheduled to visit the city, Hyderabad, on Ram Navami in March this year and address a gathering during the “Vishal Shobha Yatra”, could not make it to Hyderabad, reportedly over denial of permission by the police. Sadhvi Hemalatha Shastri and Kamalananda Bharathi will also be present on September 13.
