The plan to move the 63-feet Khairatabad Ganesh idol early this year did not work as expected. The goal was to complete the immersion of all 25,000 idols in Hussain Sagar in one day so that normal life in the city could resume the next day. However, many roads remained blocked and the immersion continued until Friday evening, causing problems for citizens. Traffic jams were also observed on several roads.
The grand processions with loud music and dancing by devotees bidding farewell to Ganesha continued throughout the night and until Friday evening around Tank Bund area. Hundreds of trucks carrying idols were lined up around Hussain Sagar. Some pandals briefly paused their processions during the night and resumed around 5:30 am on Friday.
Many pandals disregarded the 12 pm deadline for playing loudspeakers. The city police issued a traffic advisory for one day but extended it on Friday as well. This resulted in road restrictions and traffic gridlock in various areas, including the roads connecting the twin cities, Telugu Talli flyover, Secretariat road, and NTR Marg.
Police diverted vehicles at different points, causing frustration among road users who were stuck in traffic. Areas like Moazzam Jahi Market, Nampally, Abids, Narayanguda, Basheerbagh, Khairatabad, Liberty, and nearby areas were heavily affected. It seems that the authorities only focused on the Khairatabad Maha Ganapati idol and neglected other pandal organizers, leading to no improvement in the situation.
The massive procession that starts from Balapur in the southern part of the city, passing through Charminar and Moazzam Jahi Market with other small processions joining it, also experienced delays. Officials and police blamed the organizers, stating that many processions began only after sunset. Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi leader Bhagwanth Rao argued that the immersion of Ganesh should only be done on Ananth Chaturdashi, as Pitra Paksham starts from the full moon day.
