Cranes, swimmers ready as Ganesha idols crowd banks of a Krishna in spate

Vijayawada: The Krishna district administration along with Vijaywada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has made elaborate arrangements for Ganesh visarjan (immersion) at Krishnaveni Ghat on Wednesday.
Over the years, Ganesh utsav has become bigger. Around 1,700 pandals were erected across the city this year, compared to 1,450 in 2018. The idol immersion begun from the third day of the Ganesh celebrations.
Around 900 idols were immersed at Krishnaveni Ghat till Tuesday evening in the city. According to civic body officials, around 550 idols were immersed in irrigation canals.
District collector Mohammed Imtiaz has asked VMC officials to be cautious during the immersion process considering the flood situation in the river Krishna. At the Prakasam Barrage, water was being released at 1.2 lakh cusec and officials were using huge cranes for immersion.
The VMC authorities said around 250 idols were likely to be immersed on Wednesday and the rest would be immersed by Sunday.
The collector has also asked village panchayats to arrange swimming experts at various ponds and tanks to prevent accidents during the festivities of immersion.