Hyderabad gives a lingering farewell to Lord Ganesh

Hyderabad: The Ganesh idol immersion continued for the second day on Saturday at Hussainsagar and several waterbodies around the city. Civic staff had worked through the intervening night to immerse the idols, and police stood guard all long the procession routes to provide security.

However, the festivies had not ended and the civic staff and security personnel appeared to be in for a long night. A senior official of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) said, “We are expecting the immersions will continue into the early hours of Sunday.”

According to sources, a total of 1.25 lakh idols had been immersed so far in 35 water bodies and 74 artificial ponds in and around the city. According to members of Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti (BGUS), the immersion was extended by a day as many devotees were against immersing the idols on a Friday.

The GHMC collected 7,334 metric tonnes of garbage in the two days. It is expected that clearing of the waste will take ten days.

On Saturday morning, traffic movement on Tank Bund and roads leading to and from Hussainsagar was affected by trucks carrying idols for immersion and empty trucks leaving the lake.

With Saturday being a working day for the government, schools and offices, there was a heavy rush of school and college-goers and employees. That it was a Saturday when some offices were closed for the weekend was a blessing.

Some educational institutions on the routes leading to Hussainsagr declared a holiday in view of the traffic chaos and opted for online classes.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Ravinuthala Shashidhar, secretary of BGUS said “according to our records, around 1.25 lakh big idols have been immersed. Due to sentimental reasons, some refrained from immersing on Friday. They did so on Saturday.”

    The Ganesh festival immersion returned truly gigantic figures:

    1.25 lakh

    Number of idols immersed, as per BGUS

    89,505 idols in GHMC jurisdiction

    35 waterbodies

    74 ponds artificial ponds

    Vehicles used
    300 regular; 97 special vehicles; 40 JCBs; 27 special JCBs

    Debris lifted: 73,34,000 kg

    We are expecting the immersion will continue into the early hours of Sunday.

    —     GHMC official