Hyderabad Makes Bahubali Crane Operator Feel At Home

Balwinder Singh from Punjab, the operator of the Bahubali crane which was deployed to immerse the 30-tonne Khairatabad Ganesh idol, said Hyderabad’s festive atmosphere made him feel at home despite being away from his family. It is the first time that he handled such a large Ganesh idol for the first time during the immersion, though he has been working with a city-based firm for five years.

Singh said he has been away from home for 11 years and sometimes returns only twice a year. “I work hard for my family and only get to meet them very few times. I am now leaving in two days. I am excited to be the operator. I worked in Mumbai too, but never worked on such a tall structure as the Khairatabad Ganesh.”

The firm’s staff set up the Bahubali crane a day before the immersion. The crane is used only for the Bada Ganesh and, after the idol was immersed, other operators continued with subsequent immersions.

According to Asian Cranes managing director Altaf Mubeen, the cranes have an in-built system that displays the load and height and detects overloading, allowing the operation to be stopped when required. Each team consists of eight workers, a supervisor and two operators.

The Bahubali was one of 47 cranes that Asian Cranes deployed for immersions along the Tank Bund stretch. While a majority of the operators are from Punjab, the crews also include workers from the two Telugu states, Odisha and Jharkhand. Other crane operators too had the same feeling as Singh.

Shyam Kumar, 47, from Kalwakurthy, said he has been working as an operator for 12 years and comes to the city every year. He said he was saving money for his daughter and that operators shared the experience of staying away from their families while working in different cities. Prasad from Nagarkurnool said he wanted to purchase a small piece of agricultural land and take up farming.

A. Krishnayya, 52, said he wanted to grow rice and eventually settle in his hometown. “I grew my kids while I earned by operating cranes across Telangana. Both my children are graduates and are earning decently,” he said. Devendra, an operator from Odisha, said he initially worked in construction before taking up crane operations. He said operators also kept watch over people around the cranes and did not compromise on safety.

“Waiting for the arrival of Bada Ganesh is truly spiritual for me. The pace then picks up, we work minute-wise to hour-wise and then shift, and another crewmate operates the crane. A couple of years ago, I once even immersed 2,500 idols in one day. However, the second day is at a slower pace and we wrap up by evening,” he said.

Sanitation workers also marked the arrival of Bada Ganesh by dancing briefly to festive tunes. Devotees bid farewell as the idol was lowered into the water, following which the Bahubali crane also left the site. Mubeen said the firm had not named the crane Bahubali and that the name was given by devotees.