The massive Ganesh immersion procession in Hyderabad on Monday passed off smoothly and peacefully as thousands of people gathered along the route of the procession to watch the colourful idols of Ganesh in various forms and sizes being carried towards Hussain Sagar lake.
Though arrangements were made at several lakes in and around Hyderabad for the immersion, the focal point as usual was the Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city where huge idols made of Plaster of Paris, iron and other material were immersed in water. More than 10,000 idols, including the tallest idol of the city from Khairatabad mandap, were immersed in the 450-old lake with the help 40 cranes.
Hyderabad Police Commi-ssioner Mahinder Reddy and Telangana State Director General of Police Anurag Sharma undertook aerial survey of the procession and kept a watch on the movement of the procession.
A large number of devotees turned up to have a glimpse of the gigantic idol at Khairatabad creating a massive traffic jam in the area. The Telangana Government had arranged showing of flower petals on the idol from a helicopter.
As this was the first Ganesh procession after the formation of Telangana State, authorities left no stone unturned to ensure smooth passage of the event.
40,000 policemen drawn from across the State including the para-military forces were deployed to maintain peace during the procession, which passed through some sensitive pockets of old city. The main procession started from Balapur in the city outskirts and crossed the historic Mecca Masjid and Charminar in the afternoon.
Traffic restrictions were imposed and vehicles were diverted from the route of the procession. As part of the precautionary measures police had also ordered the closure of liquor shops. Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, the main organiser had set up stages at Charminar and Moazzam Jahi Market to welcome the idols from different parts of the city. Sangh Parivar controlled Samiti invited two prominent Sadhavis as guest speakers. They include Sadhvi Vaidyanandgiri from Jabalpur and All India Sadhvi Shakti Parishad vice president Vishwi Parigya.
Apart from Hyderabad, Ganesh immersion also passed off peacefully in other districts of Telangana including Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar.