Hyderabad: The Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Samiti, known for installing the tallest idol in the State, has opposed the decision of the government to reduce the height of the idol, despite a High Court order requiring idol height to not exceed 20 feet. A couple of committee members who met on Saturday, supported by Opposition parties, opposed the reduction in height. The Khairatabad Ganesh Samiti insisted that the idol would by 58 feet this year.
Samiti member S. Sudharshan said, “The ritual has been on for 62 years. On the 60th anniversary of the samiti, we had the tallest Ganesh at 60 feet in 2014. As the years pass we will reduce it by one foot. In 2015, we had 59 feet and decided to keep the height at 58 feet this year. So far we have not held talks with the police. On June 16, there will be a bhoomi puja of the Ganesh idol at Khairatabad and we will go ahead with our decision.”
Khairatabad BJP MLA C. Ramachandra Reddy added, “Even the public has no issue, why is the government insisting on decreasing the height? We oppose this decision. The height causes no harm to anyone so there is no point in decreasing it.” Officials from the HMDA, which has jurisdiction over Hussainsagar, said a peace committee would be formed to negotiate with the samiti and ask it to reduce the height of the idol.
