Hyderabad: The Ganesh idol immersion procession in the city ended up on a peaceful note on the second day with no major untoward incidents reported on Sunday. Over 3.03 lakh were immersed during the festival across Greater Hyderabad.

Though the 11-day of the Ganesh festival concluded on Saturday, it continued on Sunday, as the height of some Ganesh idols was more than 40 ft, leading to slow movement of the heavy vehicles carrying them, said authorities.

On the second day, it has been witnessed that a large number of vehicles carrying the idols were seen queued up at the water bodies for immersion and the cranes continued to operate at designated points at water bodies and artificial ponds and Hussain Sagar lake.

As per the GHMC officials, a total of 3,03,585 Ganesh idols were immersed in six zones of GHMC. Of these, as many as 1,14,566 idols were between 1.5 feet and 3 feet and 1,89,019 were above 3 feet. A total of 26,000 idols were immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake.

Moreover, the GHMC undertook potholes and road repairs along the 303-kilometre route of the immersion procession in the city, ensuring the procession proceeded smoothly, safely, and swiftly.

Meanwhile, GHMC sanitation teams of 15,000 workers were seen collecting a heap of confetti, disposable plates and glasses, meal plates, idol decoration materials, and other waste material and clearing the roads. So far, the teams collected 20,000 tonnes of excess waste and transported it to the processing centre in Jawahar Nagar. A thorough sanitation drive is being conducted across the city on Monday.

Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi said that the successful immersion was made possible by the coordination between GHMC and various government departments like Police, Revenue, Electricity, RTA, and HMDA.

Moreover, the Hyderabad city police commissioner CV Anand said that the immersion was completed ahead of schedule with the cooperation of the Khairtabad Ganesh Utsav Samithi members. CV Anand said, “The Ganesh immersion procession continued for almost 40 hours. This year, the procession was slightly delayed as some idols were taller than 40 feet. The police worked for two days without sleep to ensure the immersion was completed peacefully. Surveillance was maintained using 9 drones and cameras on 35 high-rise buildings,” said commissioner.

As many as 5 cases were registered regarding minor disputes during the immersion procession. The police arrested 170 people for misbehaving with women and several others in pickpocketing cases. The commissioner stated that the number of crimes has decreased compared to last year.

He said that even though some mandap organizers started their processions late, all idols were successfully sent to Hussain Sagar. On behalf of the Hyderabad City Police, he thanked the public, the Ganesh Utsav Samithi, and the Mandap organizers for ensuring that the Ganesh immersion in Hyderabad took place in a peaceful environment.

The commissioner appreciated the Mandap organizers for their coordinated cooperation with the police in completing the immersion program. He also extended his special thanks to all the police personnel and officers who worked tirelessly for nearly 40 hours.