Hyderabad's Grand Ganesh Chathurthi Immersion Celebrations Conclude with Enthusiasm
HYDERABAD: Amidst a sea of devotees loudly invoking Lord Ganesha to return early next year, the Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations in Hyderabad and surrounding suburbs culminated on Thursday, with a large number of idols being immersed in the Hussainsagar, other lakes and baby ponds.
The main event of the celebration — the immersion of the Khairatabad Bada Ganesh — started at 6.30 am and was completed at 1.30 pm, much earlier than last year. The immersion of another prominent idol — the Balapur Ganesh — was completed at around 4 pm, signifying the elaborate arrangements done by the police.
According to sources, around 40,000 big idols were immersed and around four lakh devotees witnessed the immersion at Tank Bund alone. The area around the Hussainsagar was bustling with activity from the early morning. Traffic jams and the hot sun during the day, followed by heavy rain towards the evening, did not dampen the festivity.
Armed personnel from the paramilitary forces, police and personnel from multidisciplinary wings of police, CCTV cameras and drones guarded the immersion processions till they reached the final leg.
Director-General of Police Anjani Kumar congratulated the rank and file of the police force for their hard work and acknowledged public cooperation terming that it was at its best. “An eventful day. Ganesh Immersion is a testing time for Police and all depts. The coordination is seen at every stage,” he wrote on X.
Police, GHMC and other government departments made adequate arrangements for peaceful completion of the immersion process. Ministers Mohd Mahmood Ali and Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad commissioner of police C.V. Anand and GHMC commissioner Ronald Rose inspected the immersion from a copter.
They also monitored the immersion processions from the newly-inaugurated war room operating from Telangana State Police Integrated Command Control Center (TSPICCC) at Banjara Hills in the city, where Hyderabad CP C.V. Anand briefed them about the immersion process and the security preparedness.
Officials from the police department, GHMC, electricity, transport, HMWSSB, DRF and several other departments monitored the functioning of their respective departments from the war room.
“The dignitaries visited the new command control centre at Banjara Hills where the new War Room has become the hub for inter-departmental coordination exercises. They spent time talking to all department officers and saw the drone shots of the entire immersion route.” CV Anand wrote on X.
“Surprisingly, the number of vehicles on the roads were very less which means only one thing — we are all in for a long night and the immersion will go on till tomorrow afternoon at least !” he wrote after inspection from the chopper.
