People carrying a Hindu god Ganesha idol for immersion in the Arabian Sea walk through a waterlogged street following heavy rains in Mumbai (AP Photo)
THE heaviest 24-hour rainfall in Mumbai since the 2005 deluge may have brought Maximum City to its knees, but neither the relentless rain nor the water-logged roads could deter thousands of revellers and devotees from participating in the Ganeshotsav festivities, which go on for 10 days.
Devotees determined to get a glimpse of their favourite deity seemed unfazed by the weather and traffic conditions, turning up in large numbers to seek blessings of the celebrated Lalbaugcha Raja, according to organisers. “Over 10,000 people gathered here today and many of them were stranded office-goers. We provided food and water for everyone,” said Balasaheb Kamble of the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal.
Ganesh Pawaskar came for a darshan from Dadar, despite the heavy rain. “Since we left early from work, we headed here. Though there was a long queue we did not get wet because everything was organised well,” he said. On the fifth day of the festivities, when many small Ganpati idols installed at homes – besides a few idols of large mandals – are immersed (visarjan) in the sea, the attendance on Tuesday was low but spirits were high. Thousands with residential idols set out to various beaches for immersion. Others decided to host Bappa a little longer hoping weather conditions would become favourable.
Anticipating heavy rainfall, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had increased the number of lifeguards at Girgaum Chowpatty, who were responsible for taking the idols into the sea. “The sea was extremely rough through most of the afternoon and evening. While usually we have around 40 trained lifeguards who take the idols into the sea, we had deployed an additional 20. Due to the heavy rain, very few people turned up,” said Kishore Kshirsagar, assistant municipal commissioner of D ward.
He added that since the sea was rough, none of the boats or floats were taken out into the sea until the rains stopped late evening. “On the fifth day, mostly residential idols are brought for immersion which can be handled by the lifeguards easily without a boat. We constantly advised people to stay well behind and allow the trained lifeguards to carry their idols,” he said, adding that majority of the people came in the evening after the rains had receded. Kshirsagar said that till 6 pm, only around 70 idols were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty.
Among the many lifeguards was 30-year-old Arvind Jadhav who spent the day immersing idols. A resident of Diva in Thane, Jadhav has been on duty since 2 pm and worked through the hours of high tide when the sea was tough and everyone was advised to stay indoors. “Though I didn’t realise that it would rain so heavily that all trains would stop functioning, I had a feeling that there would be heavy showers today which is why I left my house at 8 am. My family has been worried and has been calling me all day,” he said. Jadhav has been a lifeguard since 2011, and has a wife and two children. Since majority of the idols brought were small residential ones, Jadhav said they are placing upto 10 of the idols onto the float. “Each time we have taken out the float about 200-250 metres into the sea and I have made about 30 trips till now and there are more families approaching now. Initially, it was dull, but now the environment is lively. Even though people are slightly worried about returning home, they are enjoying the festival,” he said.
The beaches at Versova and Juhu saw bigger crowds though they were largely immersing residential idols. “We had posted around five lifeguards at Juhu beach and two lifeguards at Versova. People came in a staggered manner and most of them had come in the late evening after the rains had stopped,” said Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner K West ward. Gaikwad said that until 8 pm, 12 public pandal idols and 376 residential idols were immersed at Versova and 194 residential idols were immersed in artificial ponds.
Despite the intense rain, the Nimbalkar family went ahead to immerse their deity at Juhu Beach. “Since we live near the beach, we did not face any difficulty in conducting the visarjan. We enjoyed the rain and our family members went into the sea to immerse the idol. While there were life guards on the beach there were very few families who had come there for immersion,” said Sunita Nimbalkar, a Juhu resident.
Some families refrained from conducting visarjan owing to the heavy rains. “We will conduct the immersion on the seventh day. We thought it is better not to risk someone’s life for this,” said Manasi Hardikar, a Girgaum resident. “Few pandals at Mahim and some families could not go ahead with the immersion because of the rain. They plan to do it by tomorrow if the roads clear. However, there will be increased crowds on the seventh day (Gauri Visarjan) with families and pandals both heading to the immersion spots,” said Naresh Dahibavkar, co-ordinator, Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti. GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti Pandal at Ram Mandir Wadala is giving free food and water to stranded people.
