Ganesh Visarjan in Mumbai: 37,534 idols immersed & counting
Civic officials said immersions were likely to continue till late Wednesday evening.
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The famous Lalbaug Cha Raja immersion at Girgaon Chowpatty.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Idol immersions continued a day after Anant Chaturdashi in Mumbai with 37,534 Ganesh idols immersed over Tuesday and Wednesday (till 3 pm), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data shows. Between 6 am and 3 pm on Wednesday, 470 immersions took place at various beaches and artificial ponds in the city.
Civic officials said the final stage of Ganesh immersions were under way till Wednesday afternoon and processions by big samitis, including Lalbaugcha Raja, were completed only by Wednesday morning. The 11-day festival started on Ganesh Chaturthi (September 6) and ended on Anant Chaturdashi (September 17).
“Usually the process of immersion continues the day after Anant Chaturdashi and this year we also witnessed the same. Between 2020 and 2022 for three years the number of sarvajanik samitis had decreased temporarily due to the Covid pandemic because of which the number of immersions that took place during that time was comparatively less,” said Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS).
Civic officials said immersions were likely to continue till late Wednesday evening. “Usually all the idols immersed today in the sea are big idols. Therefore, these immersions can’t take place haphazardly, mandals are given slots and based on the timing they reach the immersion spots and carry out the rituals,” a civic official said.
Meanwhile, BMC data showed that throughout the 11-day festival, a total of 2.05 lakh idols were immersed in Mumbai, out of which 76,630 or 37 per cent were immersed in artificial ponds. The data showed that in 2023, 37 per cent of the total immersions took place in artificial ponds. Before that in 2022, only 23 per cent of idols were immersed in these ponds.
This year, the BMC set up 204 artificial ponds, a nearly seven per cent increase from the 191 ponds set up in 2023. These artificial ponds are constructed using inflatable tubes filled with water.
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