Tragedy struck the immersion of Lord Ganesha idol as nine children drowned in separate incidents reported from Unnao, Sant Kabir Nagar and Jhansi districts.
In the first tragic incident, three children drowned while immersing Lord Ganesha’s idol in Unnao.
As per reports, the children had gone to the river Ganga for the immersion of Lord Ganesha idols in Kotwali Safipur area when the incident took place on Saturday. According to police officials, while two children drowned in the river the third was rescued but he too died during treatment in Unnao.
In a separate mishap, four minors, including three girls of a family, drowned while they were immersing the leftovers after puja in river Aami in Sant Kabir Nagar on Friday afternoon. Police said the victims were aged between nine and 16 years. The deceased were identified as Ranjana alias Pauphia (12), Rubby (16), Deepali (8) and their cousin Ajit (10), all residents of Mohammadpur Katar village.
The bodies were fished out of the river, police added.
District Magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar, Divya Mittal, said directions had been issued for autopsy of the bodies.
Taking cognisance of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the district magistrate and superintendent of police of the district to rush to the spot and provide help to the victims.
According to police, the deceased along with Ajit's mother Sanju had gone for immersion of a few puja items in Aami river about one kilometer from Mohammadpur Katar village.
“The four children entered the river along with Sanju. At some distance, Sanju stopped the children from going any further and entered deeper into the water,” police said. Station House Officer, Vijay Narayan Prasad said in the meantime the children moved forward and slipped into deep water.
“Sanju raised an alarm on seeing the children drowning. Hearing her cries for help, locals ran to save the children and also alerted the police. Later, police divers and locals brought out the bodies of the four children from the river,” he said.
In Jhansi, five children were swept away by the strong currents of the Betwa river during the immersion of Lord Ganesha idol on Friday. While two children drowned, three others were rescued by the divers.
The body of the one boy was missing and efforts were on to trace the body.
People, including children, belonging to Teacher's Colony in Khushipura locality of Jhansi, joined the procession taken out for immersion of the idol of Lord Ganesha in the Betwa river on Friday. When they reached Nautghat Bridge to immerse the idol, some of the participants, including children, entered the river stream where the water level was deep. While two children drowned in the river, three others were rescued by the local divers.
Ganesh Chathurthi festival came to an end on Friday. Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with much pomp and zeal in several states across the country and 2022 marked the return of its celebration after two years of COVID-19 induced restrictions.