Aurangabad, Sept 20:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has collected 24,730 idols of Lord Ganesha through 40 centres established in nine zones of the city, on Sunday. The centres also collected 5 tonnes of nirmalya.
The AMC has arranged direct immersion facilities for the devotees at 11 places (nine wells and two artificial tanks) in the city, apart from 40 centres. The sole aim was to avoid a rush of devotees in the wake of Covid-19. Besides, separate vehicles were arranged at these centres to transport the idols for immersion. The head of the solid waste management (SWM) cell Nandkishore Bhombe has appointed sanitary staff in each zone.
On Sunday, the AMC administrator A K Pandey has performed 'Aarti' of Ganesh idol installed in the workshop of mechanical section at 9 am. Later on, the squads proceeded towards the collection centres. The collection started at 11 am. The idols were transported by AMC personnel in batches for immersion. The immersion was continue till late in the night. The immersion was done as per the rituals. Following the overwhelming response, the AMC mechanical section had to arrange additional vehicles at the centres in Harsul, Cidco N-5, Jyotinagar and Hanuman Chowk.
5 tones of 'nirmalya'
The AMC centres were also collecting nirmalya along with the idols. The collection was also done at the immersion wells, apart from the collection made by various social organisations. The total collection of nirmalya recorded was of five tones from nine zones, said Bhombe.
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Status of zone wise collection of idols
Zone Number Number of idols collected
1 910
2 845
3 276
4 6,190
5 2,744
6 3,008
7 5,007
8 3,124
9 2,626
Total 24,730