Amdavadis bid adieu to Lord Ganesha amid fanfare

AHMEDABAD: With speakers blaring at full volume, hues of pink floating in the air and crowds dancing on the roads, Amdavadis bade farewell to Lord Ganesha on Thursday.
An estimated 15,000 idols were immersed at various places in Ahmedabad city and periphery. While small and medium idols were immersed at Pavitra Kund on Sabarmati Riverfront, the bigger idols were immersed in Sabarmati River and in ponds in eastern city parts.
On Thursday evening, a youth who was immersing an idol from Ellisbridge fell from the bridge and died. In another incident, a youth fell from Sardar Bridge . His body is yet to be found.
Four persons fell in the river after a platform broke down at Ellisbridge and were rescued. Overall, 45 emergencies, including fall of a vehicle, fainting of devotees and road accidents, were handled by various agencies during Ganesha immersions.
Devotees marked the Anant Chaturdashi by distributing modak and prasad. All major processions were given police and home guard escorts.
The city police had diverted three routes, primarily around Ellisbridge and Sardar Bridge, to ease movement of trucks carrying idols.
However, traffic jams were reported in nearby areas as immersion continued till late night. Administration tried to push the immersion timing early, but pace peaked up only after 5pm. More than 5,000 policemen and over 175 fire brigade personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
There were 20-odd immersion ponds and 30 cranes on various bridges. Majority of immersions took place on various bridges on Sabarmati River, Dudheshwar, Victoria Garden, Acher, Narayan Ghat, Camp Sadar Bazaar, Hansol, Karai and ponds in Vastral, Vinzol and Vadu.