Hyderabad: City gets ready to bid adieu to Ganesha

Hyderabad: Hyderabad is geared up to bid farewell to Lord Ganesha on Tuesday with prayers that people will see peace and prosperity during the year. This year’s Shoba Yatra assumes greater importance as the city will be witnessing not only the Shobha Yatra but also two official celebrations about the Telangana Liberation Day organised by the Central Government at Parade Ground and by the State Government at Public Gardens on September 17.

This has put tremendous pressure on the law and order agencies to ensure that all three events pass off peacefully. The final and grand send off of the 70-feet Khairtabad Maha Ganesh would begin at 9 am and will reach NTR Marg around 1 pm and the process of immersion would be over by 2 pm. The GHMC, HMWS&SB, HMDA, Tourism Department, TSSPDCL and the Fire Departments have made necessary arrangements for the procession.

Another major procession would be that of Balapur Ganesh which will be covering 19 km and has to pass through parts of the Old City to reach the Tank Bund.

The police have made security arrangements in the sensitive areas of the Old City and have imposed traffic restrictions at several places. The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi said that over 1.4 lakh Ganesh idols were installed across the city this year.

According to the police, Blue Colts and patrol teams were patrolling lanes, bylanes, and various other localities to maintain peace and ensure the smooth conduct of festivals.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand said special emphasis has been laid on gathering intelligence inputs so that the lapses that were witnessed last year could be avoided. He said a strong traffic management strategy has been evolved to ensure quick movement of the idols, especially at key intersections and crossover points like Basheerbagh and MJ Market. Additionally, hawkeye will be maintained on anti-sabotage inspections, monitoring social media, and deploying SHE Teams, drones, and camera-equipped vehicles.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also reviewed the arrangements for the Ganesh immersion process at the Command Control Centre in Banjara Hills.

Police Commissioner CV Anand and other senior police officials informed the Chief Minister that 733 CCTV cameras were being used to monitor the immersion process across Greater Hyderabad. The CM directed the police to identify blind spots and hotspots across the city and make special arrangements to ensure that the event passed off peacefully and without delay.