Commuters Bear the Brunt as Immersion Continues into Friday

HYDERABAD: The Ganesh idol immersion continued for the second day on Friday at Hussainsagar, the focal point of festivities. As a result, traffic in the roads surrounding Hussainsagar and leading to it were affected, delaying school, college and office goers. Commuters were in for a rude surprise when they found that hundreds of lorries with large idols were occupying one side of the road on PVNR Marg.

Although police personnel tried to ease the traffic, the spillover continued all through.

It was to such an extent that some students from Rosary Convent, All Saints, Little Flower and St. George’s Grammar School, who were struck on their way, turned around and headed home.

Areas like MJ Market, Nampally, Abids, Narayanguda, Basheerbagh, Khairatabad, Liberty crossroads suffered from heavy traffic congestion.
Scores of idols waited in lines on trolleys along NTR Mark and PVNR Marg, causing traffic bottlenecks on roads that led to these points.

Mahesh Kumar Sharma, a corporate employee from Musheerabad, was stuck in traffic long enough to take a detour and go back home.  "I took videos on my phone to prove why I couldn't make it to work. There were hardly enough traffic police to guide commuters," he said.

The mother of one Akansha P. too decided to take her four-year-old home instead of school in Gunfoundry. "She has already lost some classes. There is no point in taking her to school at this late hour," she said.

Tank Bund was closed for traffic for long, and personnel from the GHMC and other departments worked throughout to clear the rush of statues and to clean the debris left behind. The police officials were on their toes throughout to control the traffic while the sanitation staff continued bravely to clear the mess left behind.

Dr Ravinutala Sasidhar, secretary, Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti (BGUS), said, “the Shobha Yatra was successful, the samiti is thankful  to all the authorities especially the GHMC and the police.”

He added, “The devotees were happy with the arrangements. They took out the procession peacefilly, which brings glory to the nation.”  The devotees who were exhausted as the procession lasted for more than a day and night relaxed on the lawns on Tank Bund and PVNR Marg.