Hyderabad: The Ganesh procession in Hyderabad continues on Friday as only 40 percent of the idols were immersed until Thursday night. It is likely to conclude this afternoon.
Quoting Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand, The Hindu reported that as of 9 p.m., only 40 percent of Ganesh idols had been immersed. He added that the procession will continue until Friday.
Meanwhile, no untoward incidents have been reported during the procession so far. The Ganesh procession began on Thursday morning and the immersion of idols is taking place in Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of Hyderabad and dozens of other lakes and ponds in and around the city.
The main procession, which started from Balapur on the southern fringes of the city, reached Hussain Sagar in the afternoon after covering a distance of about 20 km.
To maintain peace and security in Hyderabad, more than 40,000 policemen were deployed in the city for the immersion, including the main procession, which passed through the communally sensitive old city.
Elaborate security arrangements were made in Hyderabad, especially in the Old City, as the Ganesh procession coincided with Milad-un-Nabi.
Director General of Police Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand, and other officials monitored the procession from the recently inaugurated war room at the Integrated Police Command Control Centre. Home Minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali, Animal Husbandry Minister T. Srinivas Yadav, and the DGP made an aerial survey of the procession in a chopper.
Police have extended traffic restrictions in some parts of the city for the second day.
