Idol immersion in full swing

From Ulsoor to Malleswaram and from Kothanur to Jakkur, most of the lakes were crowded as devotees thronged the places for the immersion rituals. More idols will be immersed in the next 10 days.

In comparison to the outskirts, maximum number of idols were immersed at Ulsoor, Malleswaram and Yediyur lakes. As many as 80,000 idols, ranging from seven feet to one foot idols of Ganesha and Gowri, were immersed through Saturday night and Sunday evening in these three lakes.

At the Sankey lake, hundreds of people were jostling to make their way in and out of the premises. With heavy police presence and barricades preventing the vehicles from blocking the way, the Sankey lake witnessed a huge number of devotees. As many as 60 trained divers were present at the lake to help citizens immerse the idols. The lake recorded nearly 25,000 idols immersed in six hours on Saturday alone.

At the Ulsoor Lake, the idol immersion was in full swing. Devotees after performing the pooja, bid adieu to their favourite God, who in three small dips was immersed in the lake. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had hired more than 40 trained hands to immerse the idols. Nearly 32,000 idols were immersed in the lake since Saturday.  A crane, stationed at the Ulsoor lake, was in full service on Saturday as nearly 250 Ganesha idols were immersed with its help. The crane, which costs BBMP Rs 4,000 per hour, was available free of cost for the public.

Palike AEE Abdul Subhan said: “We have been taking all precautionary measures to prevent untoward incidents. BBMP officers are now monitoring the immersion process along with the workers.”

BBMP has pressed into service nearly four ambulances across the lakes during the immersion. The ambulance service will be available for ten days between 8 am and 11 pm and each day doctors from the different government-run hospitals will be on duty.

At Yediyur, BBMP had provided special tankers for immersion of smaller idols to ease the flow of people inside the small premises. The Palike estimated that 24,000 idols were immersed in the Yediyur water body. The outskirts of the City saw a more sombre celebrations of the immersion rituals with each of the six lakes including those in Jakkur, Kothnur, Marathhalli, Kommaghatta and others recording a maximum of 700 idol immersions over the past 48 hours.

In Ulsoor, the traffic police had deployed 140 policemen including officers to maintain a smooth vehicular movement. “There was less traffic and crowd compared to last year. We did not receive any reports of traffic jam from any area around the lake,” said Kavitha, Inspector, Ulsoor traffic police station. At the other end of the City around 39 traffic policemen including officers were deployed.