Mumbai, Sep 26 Bidding an emotional farewell, vast crowds gathered in south Mumbai as famous idols of Chinchpokhlicha Chintamani and Lalbaugcha Raja inched towards the seashore early Saturday morning in marathon 21-hour immersion processions.
The immersion processions across the city commenced on Friday morning on Anant Chaturthi, the final day of the 12-day Ganesh festival, stretched through the night, with thousands of devotees accompanying the idols.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 34,403 idols had been immersed across Mumbai till 6 am, of which 6,235 were ‘Sarvajanik’ (community) idols, 27,615 were household Ganpatis, and 553 were Gauri idols.
“No untoward incident was reported during the immersion process,” a civic official said.
The famous ‘Chinchpoklicha Chintamani’ idol reached Girgaon Chowpatty, one of the major immersion sites in the city, around 7.30 am, while the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati was en route to the seashore through packed streets swelling with large crowds.
Ganeshotsav, the state festival of Maharashtra, began on Ganesh Chaturthi, September 14 this year.
The Mumbai police and BMC have made elaborate arrangements to facilitate safe immersions.
More than 24,000 police personnel are on duty on city roads, while the BMC had deployed 25,000 staffers, officials said.
The civic body had deployed lifeguards, ambulances, medical teams and cranes at 67 natural immersion sites and 383 artificial ponds.
(PTI News)
