All set for celestial spectacle

35,000 idols to be immersed today

Hyderabad: The stage is all set for the immersion of over 35,000 Ganesh idols on Sunday and Monday in Hussainsagar Lake. The GHMC officials, who are entrusted with the smooth and hassle- free idol immersion event, made arrangements with an expenditure of over Rs 10 crore.

Various government departments have also been roped in for successful immersion of idols Meanwhile, the city police have imposed traffic curbs to ensure the entire procession route, between Balapur to the Hussainsagar, passes of smoothly. The police kept the procession route under tight security cover, so that no untoward incident takes place.

Besides presence of about 20,000 policemen and other paramilitary personnel throughout the stretch, some 400 cameras will record the procession. Seventy cameras, specially arranged on Tank Bund, will monitor the traffic movement for better management of immersion.

For the first time, the city police have recently launched ‘vehicle-mounted cameras’, which are placed at the immersion points. These CCTV cameras can capture visuals at 360 degrees. The ‘Command Control Centre’, from where the footage will be monitored, will ensure that the vehicular and pedestrian movement is under control.

“We shall ensure the optimal utilisation of cameras, both for security of visitors and management of vehicles.” The Command Control System will help in identifying any trouble spot or people trying to create trouble. This will help the police to move necessary forces and prevent any untoward incidents and it will also help in smooth movement of the idols, said M Mahender Reddy, city police commissioner.

He further said the Central Command Team would give necessary instructions to cops near various cranes so that they direct the trucks and vehicles carrying idols to the cranes which are vacant. “The effort is to ensure that no truck will have to wait for a crane,” he added. The TS Road Transport Corporation has diverted the buses and has announced the originating and terminating points of inter- district buses.

Temporary toilets for devotees

The GHMC has provided temporary toilets along the procession route and at Tank Bund, NTR Marg and Necklace Road. Twenty urinals for gents and 10 for ladies are provided. The Ganesh Action Teams (GAT) for every three-four km on procession routes consisting of one sanitary supervisor, three SFA & 21 workers will ensure the route is clean. With 180 teams, covering 357.85 km, the civic body will clean up the roads by Monday.

For smoother movement of vehicles carrying the idols and visitors, the GHMC recently took up repair works and arranged lightening. A total of 146 works related to road repairs with a cost of Rs 1,355.34 lakh and 18 works with a cost of Rs 66.30 lakh were taken up by the civic body.