Hyderabad, Sep 25 (IANS) Thousands of policemen heaved a sigh of relief as the mammoth Ganesh procession passed off peacefully Tuesday, exactly a month after the city was rocked by twin blasts that killed 44 people.
The main procession carrying huge Ganesh idols passed through the communally sensitive old city with no untoward incident being reported from anywhere.
In one of the biggest religious events, more than 30,000 idols of all sizes and shapes were immersed in 16 lakes in and around the city, ending 11 days of festivities.
Home Minister K. Jana Reddy, who conducted an aerial survey of the procession in a helicopter, told newsmen that the procession was peaceful and there was no trouble anywhere in the city.
Senior police officials kept a tight vigil through Internet Protocol-based surveillance cameras and closed circuit cameras.
Though the main procession had passed through the old city by the evening, over 26,000 policemen will keep a vigil till late in the night in view of the ongoing Ramadan festivities. Tight security arrangements will continue around the historic Mecca Masjid and other places of worship in view of large gatherings for prayers.
It is after a gap of 27 years that the city is celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and Ramadan together.
The city was on high alert as twin blasts at a park and a famous eatery last month killed 44 people and injured 54. Earlier, a blast at the historic Mecca Masjid May 18 had killed nine people.
Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, which organizes the procession every year, displayed banners at different places condemning terrorism.
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.
The procession brought the city to a grinding halt as more than a million people turned up on the streets to join the festivities. All shops and business establishments were closed as the government had declared a general holiday in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district.
Almost all IT and BPO companies, employing over 150,000 employees, have also logged off for the day.
More than 26,000 policemen and paramilitary personnel were on guard 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 were deployed for the immersion procession. In the past 10,000 to 12,000 policemen were deployed.
At the police commissioner’s office, top officials monitored 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 helped track every vehicle carrying the idols.