The immersion of the king of Mumbai’s most famous Ganapati Pandal Lalbagh was late on Sunday i.e. due to high waves in the sea on Sunday i.e. today. This is the first time that the immersion could not be done on time due to such a situation. Like every year, this time too, there was a preparation to immerse the idol in a deep sea before 9 am on Girgaon Chowpatty in South Mumbai. But when Murthy reached Chowpatty in the early hours of Sunday, the fast flow of water started in the sea.
Due to the high waves in the sea, the platform (stage) carrying the idol started floating in the water, which made it difficult to properly offer it to the raft (large navigated fleet). The idol remained in a few feet deep water for about three hours. During this time, 15 to 20 volunteers and fishermen continued to handle it. The high tide reached 4.42 meters at around 11:40 am. This year, Mandal has prepared a new, large size raft for immersion of the idol. Thousands of devotees were present at Girgaon Chowpatty since morning for the last darshan of their beloved Bappa. The municipal corporation and police officers kept monitoring with vigil to handle the crowd.
A major accident occurred during the Ganesh idol immersion procession on Sunday morning in Sakinaka region, where a current wire touched the idol, causing 6 devotees standing near the current. The incident took place at around 10:45 pm on Khairani Road. The injured were immediately rushed to nearby private hospitals and seven Hills Hospital. Doctors declared Beenu Sukumaran Kumaran dead. All the injured are being treated in Paramount Hospital and their condition is currently being stable. The local police has started investigating the incident and the electricity department team has also been deployed in the area, so that there is no further accident.
At the same time, during the Ganesh idol immersion in Palghar district, a major accident was averted. Three youths were swept away by a strong flow of water during immersion on orange jetty (Virar West), but they were saved in time with the help of crying boats. The incident took place around 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. During the immersion, a young man suddenly slipped and fell into the water. Two of his friends immediately jumped into the water to save him. But due to the sharp edge and low tide, the three youths flowed away from Jetty.
As soon as the Port Inspector Navneet Nizai of Maharashtra Maritime Board received information about the incident, he immediately informed the Ro-Ro boat employee Adesh Naik. The boat was immediately sent to the scene. Soon the boat reached the spot and the three youths were taken out safely. This rescue operation was successful with the collective effort of several agencies. Vivekananda Kadam, head management head of the District Magistrate’s Office, said that a large tragedy was averted due to timely vigilance and quick action.
At least four people drowned and 13 others are missing after the immersion of the idols after the conclusion of the Ganesh festival in several districts of Maharashtra. An official said that four people were swept away in different reservoirs in three different incidents in Chakan area of Pune district. He said that two people were swept away in the Bhama river in Vaki Khurd and one in Pimphalgaon. He said that another person fell into a well in Birwadi of Pune villager. The official said that out of four people, the bodies of two have been recovered so far and the search for the other two people is going on.
Police said three people were swept away in a river in Gadegaon in Nanded district. One of them was later rescued and the search for the other two is on. He said that a similar accident occurred with four people in Nashik and the body of one of them was recovered in Sinnar. Police said that three people were swept away in different incidents in Jalgaon and their search is on. At the same time, three people were swept away during the idol immersion in Thane district and the body of one of them has been recovered till now. According to the police, there is a possibility of drowning of a person during immersion in another incident in Amravati. Rivers, lakes and other reservoirs are in spate due to continuous rains in many parts of the state, due to which the State Disaster Response Team and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed.
