Hyderabad: To ensure that the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi between September 7 and 17, is celebrated seamlessly, the state government is making elaborate arrangements. To review the preparations, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and D. Sridhar Babu conducted a meeting on Tuesday with the stakeholders and the government departments.
Addressing the meeting, Prabhakar, the Hyderabad incharge minister, said, “The officials of all departments should work in coordination for Ganesh Utsavs. Strict measures should be taken to have a peaceful festival. In the past, Ramzan, Moharram and Bonalu have been celebrated successfully.”
Prabhakar directed the police, electricity, transport departments, RTC, Metro, GHMC and HMDA to complete preparatory work in time. Special arrangements should be made as there is a possibility of a 10 per cent increase in idols than last year, he said and added that 141 clogging points were identified the last time.
Minister Sridhar Babu said, “As per the Supreme Court verdict, large-scale campaigns should be conducted to worship clay idols. He instructed officials and mandapam organisers to hold continuous review meetings with the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsava Samiti."
The minister instructed the GHMC to make arrangements to submerge the Khairatabad Ganesha idol early. The GHMC officials were directed to repair the roads and form teams of sanitation workers and the transport department to keep ready vehicles and drivers.
The HMDA said 22 platforms were being set up for the immersion of idols in Tank Bund and NTR Marg, and 33 cranes were being placed on Tank Bund. About 100 statical cranes and 150 mobile cranes will be set up in the GHMC area. More than 10,500 sanitation workers will be set up in the immersion area. More than 100 tippers and 20 earthmovers were arranged for clear the lakes after immersion. In-charge GHMC officials stated that five lakh clay idols will be distributed from GHMC and HMDA this time.
Hyderabad Metro Rail would run services till midnight as per the demand near Khairatabad and on the immersion day. MMTS and RTC will run additional services.
The electricity department mentioned 57 transformers, 22 mobile transformers and 3,457 electrical staff will be working for the celebrations. Steps will be taken to prevent electric cables from hanging on the main roads and alleys, the 108 ambulances with special medical personnel and primary treatment centers will be established in the area where the immersion takes place.
During the meeting, Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsava Samiti and other committees brought many issues to the attention of the government. Mobile toilets for devotees, drinking water facilities and food arrangements for devotees are suggested. They also requested the police to grant festival permissions without any hassle.
