Hyderabad bids farewell to Ganesh

The idols immersion went on peacefully in Hyderabad on Sunday amid high security and colourful celebrations which hit crescendo late in the evening.

However, the day was marred by two deaths — 26-year-old Satish collapsed while dancing at a procession in SR Nagar and Assistant Sub Inspector Nimma Naik, who was posted at Habeebnagar police for bandobast duty, was hospitalised after complaining of ill health. Both the deaths were suspected to be from cardiac arrests. In another incident at Moosabowli, 45-year-old Santosh injured his head after an idol fell on him.

Though the idols immersion procession started off on a slower note early in the day, it picked pace in the evening with



serpentine queues of idols seen at NTR Marg and Hussainsagar in Tank Bund.

Like last year, the immersion of the 57-ft Khairatabad Ganesh idol was completed in Hussainsagar around 1 pm. At Balapur, as many as 39 persons vied for the famed laddu, which was eventually bagged by Balapur Arya Vysya Samaj president T Srinivas Gupta for Rs 16.60 lakh.

Devotees gathered at Hussainsagar in large numbers to watch the vehicles roll past carrying Ganesha idols of varying sizes and depicting the Lord in myriad forms. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu also participated in the immersion event at Tank Bund where he offered prayers and performed ‘aarati’.