Traffic movement came to a halt on NTR Marg on Sunday morning as vehicles carrying idols were stopped from immersion.
Those who were stranded on the roads around 8 a.m., said they had been there for many hours. They complained that a few cranes of GHMC had stopped working after midnight, which slowed down the immersion process. The slowdown of vehicles carrying idols also hampered general traffic movement in the morning. It was not until 9 a.m. that traffic was cleared on the road.
That notwithstanding, authorities continue to make arrangements for the immersion. Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy visited several areas of Old City to oversee arrangements. The main procession route, for most part, winds through the Old City. Over 900 idols from Old City alone were expected to be immersed on Tuesday.
According to the police, around 24,000 cops would be deployed on the day of immersion. Other security arrangements including training surveillance apparatus along the procession route have been done, the police said. The police have also involved religious leaders and organisers of Ganesh idols in the process to ensure that the procession passes peacefully through sensitive areas of the city.
