Hyderabad: City Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar on Tuesday led a high-level inspection of the 19-km Ganesh immersion route from Balapur to Tank Bund. Police planned to deploy around 20,000 personnel across Hyderabad to ensure safe and smooth conduct of the procession.
Senior officials from Hyderabad City Police, GHMC, HYDRAA, Roads & Buildings and other departments joined the inspection. Before inspecting the route, Sajjanar visited the Balapur Ganesh idol with senior officials and offered special prayers. HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath, GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan and Hyderabad District Collector Priyanka Ala accompanied him.
Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi organiser Kallem Niranjan Reddy felicitated the officials with traditional shawls. Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi leaders G. Raghava Reddy and R. Shashidhar also joined the felicitation.
Speaking after the inspection, Sajjanar extended Ganesh Chaturthi greetings to citizens and festival organisers. He appreciated the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi and local organisers for their longstanding cooperation with the government and police. Sajjanar also praised the Balapur Utsav Samithi for constructing a Ganesh pandal modelled on the Puri Jagannath Temple.
Ganesh immersion route checked for overhead clearances
Officials travelled in a special bus along the 19-km Ganesh immersion route. The inspection began at the Balapur Ganesh pandal and continued through Chandrayangutta, Falaknuma, Charminar and M.J. Market. The team then proceeded towards the Telugu Thalli Flyover.
Officials conducted detailed checks at Rajesh Medical Hall, Gulzar Houz, M.J. Market Junction and Telugu Thalli Junction. They focused on road conditions, height restrictions and overhead clearances along the procession corridor.
Sajjanar said around 20,000 police personnel would be deployed across Hyderabad for security during the immersion procession. Moreover, police would continuously monitor the entire route through CCTV cameras connected to the Command Control Centre.
Specialised units would also be positioned strategically along the procession route. These included Quick Response Teams, Dog Squads, Anti-Chain Snatching teams and SHE Teams. The Commissioner said departments had regularly conducted coordination meetings during the previous month to prepare for the immersion.
Ganesh immersion route to get round-the-clock monitoring
Senior officials from several departments would remain at the Telangana State Integrated Command and Control Centre on immersion day. Officials from GHMC, HMDA, TRANSCO, R&B, HMWSSB, RTA and the Health Department would coordinate operations round-the-clock from the TGICCC.
Sajjanar directed zonal officers to closely monitor arrangements in their respective jurisdictions. He also instructed them to ensure that idols from different pandals left for immersion according to schedule.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner raised safety concerns because of the ongoing rains. He urged Ganesh pandal organisers to strictly comply with safety guidelines, particularly those governing electrical installations. The precautions were necessary to prevent accidents and electrical hazards during the festivities, he said.
Sajjanar said Hyderabad’s Ganesh immersion procession occupied a unique place in the country. He appealed to citizens, devotees and festival organisers to cooperate with police and other government departments.
Such cooperation would help the authorities conclude the celebrations peacefully and prevent untoward incidents, he said. Additional CP (Law & Order) Tafseer Iqbal and Joint CP (Traffic) D. Joel Davis participated in the inspection.
DCP Charminar Zone Khare Kiran, DCP Rajendranagar S. Srinivas and DCP CAR Headquarters R. Venkateshwarlu also attended. Other participants included DCP Khairatabad Zone K. Shilpavalli and Traffic DCPs Rahul Hegde, Avinash Kumar and Kajal Singh. DCP Shamshabad B. Rajesh and senior officials from various government departments also took part in the joint inspection.