Heavy showers failed to dampen Anant Chaturdashi festivities Saturday as data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation showed that over 7,400 Ganesh idols were immersed across the city until 6.00 pm. Large gatherings flocked the city streets amid the India Meteorological Department (IMD) upgrading its forecast warning to an orange alert in the region on Saturday. Orange alert indicates the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated pockets of the district.
For the second consecutive day, the city experienced intermittent spells of heavy rain, nudging the IMD to upgrade its forecast bulletin to an orange alert for Mumbai and its neighbouring district of Thane until Sunday morning. Weather bureau data showed that between Friday and Saturday morning, the Santacruz station received 34 mm rain while the Colaba coastal observatory recorded 25 mm rainfall. Following this, the suburban Santacruz station received 11.2 mm rain between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Saturday while the Colaba station registered 1.8 mm rainfall.
Despite heavy rainfall, the city rang in the final day of Ganesh Chaturthi with pomp as huge gatherings thronged Mumbai’s streets to bid an adieu to its deity.
Ganesh idols reach Girgaon Chowpatty for immersion. In the past three days, more than 1.55 lakh Ganesh idols have been immersed across the city. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
Data from the civic body till 6.00 pm on Saturday showed that of the 7,400 Ganesh idols immersed across the city, 358 were from Sarvajanik (community) pandals. Meanwhile, 6,898 idols were gharguti (household).
In the past three days of immersions, more than 1.55 lakh Ganesh idols have been immersed across the city, largely comprising 1.46 lakh gharguti idols.
Despite heavy rainfall, the city rang in the final day of Ganesh Chaturthi with pomp as huge gatherings thronged Mumbai’s streets to bid an adieu to its deity. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
Amid a large numbe of people flocking the streets to take part in processions of idols from large pandals like the Lalbaugcha Raja on Anant Chaturdashi, officials from BMC maintained that no untoward incidents had been reported in the city until Saturday evening. Over 10,000 BMC workers and 25,000 police personnel were deployed on the final day of Ganesh Chaturthi to manage surveillance and ensure smooth immersion.
This year, in a bid to encourage eco-friendly immersions, the BMC created over 290 artificial tanks across the city.
