At least 12 persons, including minors and a policeman lost their lives during immersion ceremonies in Maharashtra on Tuesday. The mishaps occured during Anant Chaturdashi, the festival that marked the end of the 12-day long Ganeshotsav celebrations across the state, officials said.
Four boys drown in Delhi during Ganesha idol immersions
Four persons drowned in the river Indrayani in the twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, three in Aurangabad, two in Jalgaon and one each in Nashik and Beed during the day. The incidents took place when people thronged the banks of rivers and water bodies to immerse thousands of idols of the popular elephant-headed god, Lord Ganesha.
In Mumbai, an Assistant Sub-Inspector who was posted on Ganeshotsav duty at Lalbaug in Parel, suddenly collapsed and died. Further details were awaited.
One person was reported missing in river Indrayani in Pune and search and rescue operations are on, officials said.
Processions across Maharashtra
Earlier in the morning, idols of Lord Ganesha were taken down from their pedestals amid chanting of the "Udvasana Mantra" and carried out of the marquees and homes across the state.
This was the 125th year of the state's biggest public festival, started in a modest way by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1894 to rally in the masses for the Independence movement. It was also a means to bypass restrictions imposed by the British rulers on public meetings.
The idols were brought onto the roads to the accompaniment of 'dhols' (drums), cymbals, with thousands dancing and chanting "Ganpati Bappa Moraya, Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar Ya" (Lord Ganesha bless us, come soon next year), in clouds of auspicious red 'gulaal'.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and is family members immersed Ganesha idol in an artificial pond outside his home. Ministers and lawmakers joined the festivities by dancing, playing 'lezim' and beating drums with the public.
Tight security, high vigil
Mumbai was under heavy security since the Ganesh Chaturthi on August 25 with over 40,000 personnel of the Mumbai Police and teams of Fire Brigade, the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, disaster management units deployed in the city. Besides, helicopters, high-speed patrol boats and hovercrafts kept vigil in the coastline. Over 5,000 CCTVs closely monitored the western megapolis.
Drones too kept an eye on Mumbai and other cities both for aerial surveillance and for beaming real-time images to the monitoring agencies during the immersion ceremonies.
A team of Disaster Amateur Radio Emergency Services, an amateur HAM radio operators' group, was also active at various spots in Mumbai.
The main immersion site in Mumbai was the the historic Girgaum Chowpatty which attacted several lakh people, including domestic and foreign tourists.
Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar and BrihanMumbai Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and other top officials personally monitored all the developments.
Thousands of small idols from houses in the city also joined the giant ones for immersions at the Dadar Chowpatty, Mahim seaface, beaches of Juhu, Versova, Gorai, Madh, Marve, Manori, Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey Milk Colony. Artificial water bodies had been constructed in different parts of Mumbai for an eco-friendly immersion.
Besides Mumbai, the immersion ceremonies were held in the coastal district of Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Civic bodies depoloyed lifeguards and volunteers on the seashores, beaches, local rivers, lakes and ponds.
This year, Mumbai hosted around 11,550 big Ganeshotsav celebrations. And most of them with cost running into several crores of rupees. As many as 190,000 medium or small groups with budgets of around Rs 500,000 to Rs 5 million, and millions of individual households in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.
Naresh Dahibhavkar, the President of BrihanMumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, said this year there were around 300 gigantic idols in public marquees within the prescribed height limit of 18-feet.
This year, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation made special arrangements for domestic and international tourists from the US, Europe, Japan, Thailand and other countries to view the immersion ceremonies at Girguam and other places as part of its new intiative -- the Ganeshotsav Tourism.
As usual, some of the biggest idols were seen in Mumbai at the famed Lalbaug-cha Raja, Ganesh Gully, Borivali's Kastur Park, Sewri-cha Raja, Andheri-cha Raja, Fort-cha Raja, Khetwadi, Bandra and Shivaji Park which are due for immersions later in the night, with the ceremonies likely to continue till Wednesday dawn.
Post-immersions, several NGOs, celebs, students and volunteers have announced elaborate beach cleaning programmes in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and other parts of the state.
