An atmosphere of carnival, unbridled joy and gaiety possessed visitors who made their way to Hussainsagar on Tuesday to witness immersions along the lake’s banks.
In two large waves, the crowd turnout had police administration on its feet – once in the morning before the Kharitabad idol was to be immersed, and for the second time in the evening when the main procession of Balapur idol neared the lake. For about three hours, after the immersion of the Khairatabad idol, a lull in immersion activity persisted and saw many visitors leave the area.
“It is a must-visit event for our family. We paid twice the normal auto fare to get here but we would not miss this annual gathering. We have been doing it for the last five years since we moved to the city,” said Rajendren Srinivasan, who arrived at the lake with his family.
As adults cheered when the arrival of idol was announced with vivid description of its attributes, and readied themselves for selfies, excited children indulged in making purchases from numerous vendors, who were allowed by cops to sell in the thick of the public gathering.
The cheer was also accompanied by effective crowd management that ensured things did not get out of hand. At one point, a few in the crowd attempted to scale the cranes and the scaffolding set up for television crew. The police ensured that the crowd was controlled without disturbing order.
Immersion activity picked up after 5 p.m. when main procession from Old City neared the lake. While some idols which were part of the main procession were directed towards the left of the lake flanked by NTR Marg, the others were directed right towards Lower Tank Bund. In all, 34 cranes were hired by the Irrigation Department for the immersion. The GHMC had also created a baby pond near Sanjeeviah Park.
Crowds had swelled by the time the Balapur Ganesh reached the lake. The idol’s immersion, highly anticipated like the immersion of the Khairatabad idol, was completed before sundown at 6 p.m, the GHMC said.
The festival cheer was not lost on authorities either. Senior police officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, who witnessed the immersion from the police control room, greeted several visitors and obliged for photographs with idols for the backdrop.
Till 9 p.m. over 1,100 idols were immersed and the process continued well into the night even as the GHMC persisted with efforts to clear residue from the lake.
