With just a day left for Vinayaka Chavithi, intensified activity for setting up pandals and preparations for installation of idols was on at a feverish pitch in the city on Tuesday.
Braving intermittent showers and raising ‘Ganapati bappa moriya' slogans, members of different youth and welfare organisations were seen transporting the Ganesh idols in myriad forms and sizes, in trucks, vans and other vehicles.
Right from erection of pandals to the arrangement of sound systems, youngsters were busy giving finishing touches for the festive season.
Shops agog with activity
Competing with each other in setting up colourful pandals and necessary paraphernalia to make the festival a grand one, these organisations were putting in extra efforts.
Stalls
Stalls offering different types of Ganesh idols at Narayanguda, S.R.Nagar, Koti, Monda Market, Secunderabad and Dhoolpet were teeming with customers. Similar was the situation at stationery and general stores with youngsters thronging them for decorative items.
With costs of different materials increasing considerably this year, budgets too have shot up predictably. “Compared to last year, prices of sound systems, idols, transportation charges have gone up by at least 20 per cent.
Last year, our budget was Rs.1.50 lakh but this year, we had to pool in more money,” says Ch. Srinivas, president of Brahmanwadi Welfare Association, Begumpet.
However, this year many organisations appear to have done away with the practice of collecting donations from residents.
“Majority of the money is donated by our friends living abroad and parents and relatives,” informs E. Navaneet, member of Bajrang Dal Nav Yuvak Sangh at Badichowdi.
Increase in idols
Last year about 45,000 idols were installed at different colonies in the city and this year, the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi is expecting the number to cross 50,000.
The police and the samithi have appealed to the organisers not to use DJ music set-up or play film songs, but were requested to play devotional songs and others that promote national integration, says Dr. Bhagwanth Rao, General Secretary of Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi.
