Hyderabad: The Khairatabad Ganesha idol left the pandal early on Sunday morning, and was immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake by 1.47 pm. The tradition of early immersion, which began in 2016, has continued this year also. While the authorities attempted to dig 30 feet deep for the complete immersion of mammoth idol, poor execution meant the idol couldn’t be immersed completely. However, the immersion concluded peacefully with thousands of devotees chanting ‘Ganapati bappa morya’.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation procured a fully automated crane to lift the huge idol and immersed it in the Hussain Sagar Lake. The 400 tonne crane was equipped with an automatic release device that reduced human interface and was quicker.
The sophisticated crane was used for the first time in Telangana to immerse the 61-feet idol.
The Khairatabad procession began at 7.20 am after the early morning rituals were completed by the Utsav committee members. The procession moved from Sensation Theatre and BSNL Towers to the Secretariat.
Thousands of devotees hailing the elephant god moved towards NTR Marg and reached crane number six for immersion, covering the 2.5 km route in six hours. As per convention, a half-hour pooja was held by the Khairatabad Utsav Committee members. With thousands of devotees chanting ‘Ganapati bappa morya’ and capturing videos on their mobile phones, Ganesha took the dip in the water. Later in the day, the Balapur Ganesha idol was immersed after traversing 18 km.
There were around 1000 police and GHMC personnel deployed to ensure a peaceful immersion of the Khairatabad Ganesh within the prescribed time. Police used jammers during the immersion time as a security measure.
One team of electricity employees removed the cable wires as the procession moved towards tank bund, and another team rearranged the cable wires after the vehicle carrying the idol had passed.
