Ganesh festival: More than 7,500 idols immersed in Mumbai on last day
Mumbai, More than 7,500 idols of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Gauri were immersed in Mumbai as of Tuesday evening as devotees in the city and the rest of Maharashtra bid farewell to their beloved elephant-headed deity. No untoward incident was reported anywhere during the immersion, said officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation . Of the idols immersed in the sea, lakes and artificial ponds in the city by 6 pm, 7,227 were household Ganapatis, 300 belonged to `sarvajanik mandals’ and about 50 were of Goddess Gauri. Of these, 2,880 idols were immersed in artificial ponds. The immersion procession of `Lalbaugcha Raja’, a famous `sarvajanik’ Ganesh in central Mumbai who draws lakhs of devotees during the festival, reached Chinchpokli around 6.30 pm while on its way to Girgaum chowpatty or beach. BEST, the civic bus service, has diverted buses on several routes on account of immersion processions. Western Railway and Central Railway would be running special late night trains for the convenience of devotees returning home after immersion processions, officials said. More than 24,000 police personnel have been deployed on the streets for security and crowd management. Thousands of household and ‘sarvajanik’ Ganesh idols will be immersed at 204 artificial ponds across the city, along with 69 natural water bodies like Girgaon, Dadar, Juhu, Marve and Aksa beaches. The BMC has deployed more than 12,000 employees and set up 71 control rooms to manage the processions. It has also posted 761 lifeguards and deployed 48 speed boats at the beaches as a safety measure, and citizens have been advised to avoid entering deep waters. It has also cautioned citizens about blue button jellyfish and stingrays while immersing idols in the sea. Police are also using drones for surveillance at key immersion sites such as the beaches at Girgaon, Dadar, Bandra, Juhu Versova and Madh Island, and also at Powai lake. They would also be monitoring the footage of 8,000 CCTV cameras. The State Reserve Police Force, Quick Response Teams, Riot Control Police, Home Guards and Maharashtra Security Force have also been roped in, officials said. More than 2,500 traffic police personnel are ensuring smooth movement of vehicles across the city. Some roads have been closed for traffic. For efficient coordination, 192 control rooms have been established across various administrative divisions, and 66 observation towers have been erected to monitor key areas. To promote eco-friendly celebrations, the BMC has introduced a QR code providing information on nearby artificial ponds. Citizens can scan the code or visit https://portal.mcgm.gov.in for directions to these ponds via Google Maps.