Hyderabad, Sep 25 (IANS) Hundreds of Ganesh idols Tuesday began a journey towards the Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city for immersion amid unprecedented security to prevent any terror attacks and communal disturbances.
In one of the biggest religious events, more than 30,000 idols of all sizes and shapes will be immersed in 16 lakes in and around the city.
The city is on high alert, as it was exactly a month ago that twin blasts at a park and a famous eatery killed 44 people and injured 54. Earlier, a blast at the historic Mecca Masjid May 18 had killed nine people.
Amid chants of ‘Ganpati bappa maurya’, the annual ‘Ganesh nimmajanam’ procession began from Balapur on the city outskirts with the auction of a traditional laddu, weighing 21 kg, for a record Rs.415,000.
About 50 trucks carrying huge Ganesh idols moved at a snail’s pace on a 25-km route as hundreds of other idols joined on the way.
The joint procession will pass through the communally sensitive old city before reaching the Hussain Sagar Lake. Hundreds of other idols will reach the lake from other areas of the city and its outskirts.
The procession has brought the city to a grinding halt as more than a million people have turned up on the streets to join the festivities. All shops and business establishments are closed as the government has declared a general holiday in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district.
Almost all IT and BPO companies have also logged off for the day. The companies, employing over 150,000 employees, have declared a holiday.
More than 26,000 policemen and paramilitary personnel are standing guard all along the procession route and other parts of the twin cities.
In addition to the 9,000-strong police force in the city and 15,000 personnel from other districts, eight companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and seven companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed.
This is the first time that such a large number of security personnel have been deployed for the immersion procession. In the past 10,000 to 12,000 policemen were deployed on the occasion.
Giving a hi-tech touch to the security arrangements, police have installed Internet Protocol-based surveillance cameras and are using Geographical Information System-based tracking systems to keep a tight vigil over the procession.
At the police commissioner’s office, top officials are monitoring the procession through live feed from the IP-based surveillance cameras installed at sensitive points in the old city.
Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said GIS-based tracking systems were helping track every vehicle carrying the idols.