Anant Chaturdashi: More than 7,421 idols immersed in Mumbai till 6 pm

A total of 7421 idols of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Gauri were immersed till Friday evening in various water bodies across Mumbai as the 10day Ganpati festival drew to a closeNo untoward incident was reported during the immersion processions in the metropolis so far civic officials saidThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC said around 7421 Lord Ganesh and Goddess Gauri idols were immersed in various water bodies in the city till 6 pm Of these 7046 were household Ganesh idols 302 sarvajanik idols and 35 idols of Goddess GauriOf the total 2482 idols were immersed in artificial lakes created across the city it saidThe festival dedicated to the elephantheaded god had begun on August 31 The idols of Lord Ganesh were installed in homes and public pandals across the state with pomp and gaiety this year as the coronavirus pandemic no longer cast its shadow on the celebrations The pandemicinduced restrictions had curtailed the celebrations in the last two yearsMumbai LIVE Huge crowd gathers at Girgaon as city bid adieu to Lord GaneshThe festival culminates on the day of Anant Chaturdashi when the idols of Lord Ganesh are taken to nearby water bodies and immersed Processions are taken out to bid adieu to the deity amid the chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya Pudhachya Varshi Lavkar YaAs the immersion processions began a large number of people gathered on the main roads in Mumbai to give a farewell to their beloved deity Huge number of devotees thronged to catch a glimpse of the idol of Lalbaug Cha Raja Ganesh in central Mumbai which is the biggest draw of the festival here This idol is immersed into the Arabian sea at Girgaon chowpatty beach in south MumbaiOther major sarvajanik Ganpati idols were also taken out of the pandals in Lalbaug Girgaon Parel Andheri Chembur and other areas for immersion Apart from Girgaon chowpatty the immersion of idols takes place at Shivaji Park Bandra Juhu and Malad on a large scaleThe police have deployed more than 20000 personnel including 3200 officers to keep a vigil during the immersion processions Eight State Reserve Police Force SRPF companies one Rapid Action Force RAF company 750 home guards and 250 trainees There is also a large posse of traffic police an official saidTraffic restrictions have been imposed on several roads in view of the processions he saidThe BMC has put in place facilities for the immersion of idols at 73 natural and 162 artificial water bodies across the city About 10000 civic personnel including officials are on duty it saidThe civic body has set up 188 control rooms in 24 civic wards for the Ganesh festival it said adding that 786 lifeguards have been deputed at the various immersion points Also 188 first aid centres have been set up and 83 ambulances kept ready at key locationsThe civic body has also arranged 45 motor boats and 39 German barges for the immersion of Ganesh idols while 48 inspection towers have been erected and barricades have been put up at some places for safety reasons the release saidFor improved visibility at immersion points 3069 flood lights and 71 searchlights have been installed and 211 reception rooms created for better coordination it addedwith PTI inputs