City bids goodbye to 8,411 idols on first day of immersion

Cries of Ganpati Bappa rent the air to the beats of dhol tashas as devotees bid an emotional farewell to the 1 and half day Ganpati on Tuesday, the first day of immersion of the 10-day Ganeshotsav festival.

Huge crowds thronged to the visarjan spots in the city till late in the night for the immersions.

The busy city life prevents many from serving Ganpati all the 10 days and hence most households keep the idol only for a day and a half.

A total of 8,411 Ganesh idols were immersed at 23 visarjan spots in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. These included 8,377 household Ganpatis and 34 sarvajanik mandal idols.

Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhchya Varshi Laokar Ya could be heard all over as devotees immersed the idols and a large number of citizens witnessed immersions until late in the night.

An NMMC official said, “NMMC had made arrangements at the ponds to ensure smooth immersion activities. It had placed nirmalya kalash at the ponds to collect the flowers. Strict police bandobast was in place at the ponds to ensure security of the devotees.” Navi Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale inspects immersion sites in the city on Wednesday.

He added, “As requested by NMMC, the devotees cooperated with the civic body and immersed the idols at 14 main ponds in the city in the special section created with sections separated with gabion walls. This ensured immersion in a specific area of the pond and prevents pollution of the entire pond.”

The official said, “NMMC had provided for divers and also forklift at all immersion spots. Barricades were also erected along the ponds for safety and security purpose. Drinking

water and medical facilities were also provided.”

The health department of NMMC, through posters and banners created awareness on various diseases such as dengue, malaria and so on.

The police too were alert at the visarjan spots and the nearby areas.

Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed at several places. The police personnel appealed to the devotees, especially women to take care of their jewellery and children.