Telangana: Drones Turn Police's Eyes in the Skies

Hyderabad: Director-General of Police Dr Jithender on Tuesday stated that the Ganesh immersion had been conducted peacefully throughout the state, capping the tech-driven effort of the police to keep the peace.

Dr Jitender said that several meetings had been held, including by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and city incharge minister Ponnam Prabhakar to coordinate the efforts of different departments.

Police commissioner C.V. Anand said, “This year we took action to ensure that there is no delay. The Balapur Ganesha was immersed on schedule” and added, “We prepared plans to avoid traffic problems.”

He said 25,000 police personnel had worked in shifts to ensure a seamless festival. He said the police was taking steps to ensure that the immersion of idols would be completed by Wednesday morning.

Six drones, eight vehicles mounted with high-definition (HD) cameras and 850 CCTV cameras were crucial for the success of the nimajjanam processions. All gadgets were connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) where Dr Jithender, Anand and senior officials monitored the proceedings. The DGP and Anand later oversaw the proceedings in a helicopter.

Special mobile teams were equipped with manpack radios to transmit live updates to control rooms.

All security arrangements were made in coordination with zonal deputy commissioners of police from south, south east and south west zone, along with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, transport department, Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited and heads of other departments.

The civic staff did their bit. Four artificial ponds were arranged at the NTR Stadium, for idols of different heights. An artificial pond arranged near the Sanjeevaiah Park also saw a large number of idols being immersed.

Close to 120 immersions took place in the Nalla Cheruvu, with devotees coming from Uppal. Many from Uppal went to Bibinagar, Ghatkesar, with some of them going all the way to Srisailam. The highest idol height limit in Nalla Cheruvu was 18 feet.

Devotees coming from LB Nagar were diverted towards the Saroornagar and Abdullapurmet ponds for immersions. Somewhere close to 850 idols, with heights ranging from 3 feet to 15 feet, were immersed in the Malkam Cheruvu in Raidurg over 11 days.

Devotees coming from Filmnagar, Gachibowli, some areas of Narsingi, Dargah Road, Sheikpet and Golconda were diverted towards the baby pond. There were 25 idols belonging to the Tappachabutra that were immersed in the pond.