Over 2 lakh Ganesh idols immersed across Mumbai

The 10-day Ganesha festival came to an end on Wednesday as devotees of Lord Ganesha bid adieu to their elephant-headed god with much fanfare and vigour.

The city came alive as thousands had come out on the roads, inching their way to the various immersion spots. And this year, barring a few hiccups, the processions went off without a hitch.

Bidding adieu
Despite reports of fewer people visiting mandals this year, the processions yesterday proved that Lord Ganesha is still a hit among his devotees. Over 2 lakh idols were immersed during the 10-day festival with more households also opting to bring Lord Ganesha home. Authorities added that while only a few thousand idols had been immersed in the 27 artificial ponds created in the city, most devotees thronged the beaches to bid farewell to Bappa.

2 lakh
Approximate number of idols immersed in the city

27
Number of artificial ponds in the city

Bye bye Bappa: Devotees make their way to Girgaum Chowpatty on Thursday morning to catch a final glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja before immersion. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Waste piles up
After the merriment on Wednesday, a back-bending clean-up drive was carried out at various beaches in the city. This year, barring the last day of immersions, 300 metric tonne of floral waste was collected as compared to 500 metric tonne of floral waste that was collected last year. Officials added that out of the 300 metric tonne, 20 per cent was plastic waste.

Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

300
Waste (in metric tonnes) collected this year after visarjan, barring the last day

500
Waste (in metric tonnes) collected in 2012 after visarjan

Fish strike again
While the first day of visarjans had been marred after stingrays at Girgaum Chowpatty bit over 70 people, Wednesday's visarjans went off smoothly without any major injuries.

Pics/Suresh KK, Shadab Khan

However, the fear of a stingray attack emerged again when 13 devotees were bitten by some kind of fish when they entered the waters at Girgaum Chowpatty. But, the followers were treated on the spot by the medical team and sent home.

Expertspeak
"After fishing on immersion day at Girgaum, we did find some threat of the fish and we had warned the administration. They took all the necessary precautions and the problem was handled well. This again might have happened because of sudden heavy rainfall on Wednesday early morning," said principal scientist, Centre for Marine Fisheries institute, V D Deshmukhu00a0