Hyderabad: Meticulous planning and effective coordination of the traffic police, GHMC and Ganesh pandal organisers paid off as the final day of immersion went off smoothly — unlike previous years.
There were no traffic jams on most main roads on Friday except those at the Old City that led to Hussainsagar, and there was no additional vehicular burden in the interior areas. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao too congratulated teams for ensuring smooth immersion processions in hostile weather.
This was noticed by people too. DC reader Major Shiva Kiran wrote in to say: “Last year the city had come to a grinding halt on account of delayed processions. Usually, when the Khairatabad idol reaches Tank Bund, all other immersions are forced to stop. But this year, it was the opposite. Usually no one intends to step out in the evenings on the final day of immersion but to every one’s surprise, many found roads clear of traffic by Thursday evening. Otherwise, the procession would go on up to the midnight of the 12th day.”
Ms Deepa Karmakar of Uppal said, “This year, many also took to eco-friendly Ganeshas, especially colonies that switched to clay Ganeshas, and the immersions were done within the colonies. Those who installed PoP idols completed the immersion before the final day, thus there was less traffic on the final day.”
The mayor too was delighted. “Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee cooperated and completed the procession within time,” Mayor Bonthu Rammohan said.
DIG Anurag Sharma, said, “The immersion was carried out over two days, around 56,910 Ganesh idols were immersed in tanks in addition to Tank Bund. The last Ganesh idol was immersed at about 12.40 pm on Friday.”
Crane with 15ft idol tips over
Idol for immersion tipped and fell over along with the idol at Road No. 14, Banjara Hills, on Thursday. Videos of the incident had gone viral by Friday.
A grab from the video shows the crane tipping over along with the Ganesh idol at Banjara Hills. (Photo: DC)
The 15-foot idol was installed by the Banjara Hills Association, at Venkateswaranagar, which has been organising the shobha yatra for 45 years. Pandal organiser Ramlu Chauhan blamed the crane crew for the incident. The right side of the idol was damaged and a hand came off. There were no injuries.
The incident also left the residents furious but many said it was not a bad omen because the crash had occurred after the final pujas. The idol was was later immersed in the Hussainsagar. However, rumours claiming that the crane had trapped people underneath caused a bit of tension in the area.
Officials later clarified there were no injuries and moved the idol with the help of another crane. The debris from the crash was cleared within an hour.
