After 24 hours, visarjan dhols fall silent in Pune

“The procession concluded around 10.30 am on Friday,” stated a press release issued by Pune City Police.

All five manache Ganpati mandals in the city — Kasba Ganpati, Tambdi Jogeshwari, Guruji Talim, Tulshibag Ganpati and Kesari Wada — immersed their Ganesh idols in artificial water tanks.

The idols of the historic Bhau Rangari Ganesh Mandal and the famous Dagdusheth Ganpati Hawali Mandal were immersed on Friday morning.

According to police, 602 Ganesh mandals took out processions on four major routes in the city — Laxmi Road, Tilak Road, Kumthekar Road and Kelkar Road. The idols of 2,621 Ganesh mandals and over 1.75 lakh households were immersed following processions in other parts of the city.

Some sporadic incidents on Thursday included an argument that broke out between police personnel and activists of Guruji Talim Ganesh Mandal over excessive use of gulal during the procession. Another argument between Ganesh Mandal activists was reported on Kumthekar Road.

Additional police personnel were deployed at critical points. Several measures were taken by police to prevent untoward incidents, such as installing

28,000 CCTV cameras, using drones and setting up a control and command centre at Faraskhana to monitor the law and order situation.

Ganesh immersion processions in the jurisdiction of Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissionerate and Pune Rural Police also concluded peacefully.

Action against sound pollution

Twelve offences on sound pollution were filed during the procession, and police seized 10 sound systems.

19 held for mobile phone thefts

Pune City Police’s Crime Branch arrested 19 people for allegedly stealing mobile phones during the immersion procession, and recovered 82 cell phones from them.

Fire brigade rescues nine

Fire brigade teams rescued nine persons from drowning from different spots during the immersion process. Those rescued included a 14-year-old girl, a 54-year-old man and an 18-year-old Ganesh mandal activist, among others.