Hyderabad’s Ganesh immersion procession concluded peacefully after drawing lakhs of devotees, with city police saying advanced crowd-monitoring technology was used for the first time and preparations for the 2027 festival would begin immediately.
Police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said the city’s most prestigious mega event had concluded without major untoward incidents. He said police personnel had remained deployed on roads for 48 hours and that a detailed debriefing would be held to identify lessons for future celebrations.
“After this experience we have formed special teams. We will conduct a detailed de-briefing session to draw from these experiences. We will begin formulating plans right away to organise the 2027 Ganesh festival in an even more refined and peaceful manner,” Sajjanar said while speaking to the media.
The procession involved devotees from the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Malkajgiri and Future City police commissionerates, as well as visitors from other parts of Telangana, neighbouring states and abroad. The commissioner said 20,000 city police personnel and more than 8,000 additional personnel from other districts were deployed for bandobast.
The crowd-management operation was supported by multiple government and civic agencies. Sajjanar thanked the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner, HYDRAA commissioner, Roads and Buildings Department officials, Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana, the district health office, Telangana State Road Transport Corporation and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, among others.
The scale of the public participation was particularly visible at two major installations. Approximately 30 lakh devotees visited the Khairatabad Bada Ganesh, while 15 lakh devotees offered prayers at the Balapur Ganesh, according to the commissioner. Heavy crowd movement caused some delays, but organisers cooperated with the authorities, he said.
Sajjanar said that although some pandal organisers began their journeys towards immersion later than planned, all idols were safely transported to Hussainsagar. The police had conducted coordination and review meetings three months before the festival and inspected procession routes in advance. The commissioner and senior officials also travelled along the routes on motorcycles to assess conditions first-hand.
The use of crowd-monitoring technology marks a new operational element in the city’s management of a procession that brings together large concentrations of people, traffic diversions, public transport requirements and coordination between several civic agencies. The police commissioner said the experience would inform the planning of the 2027 celebrations, with special teams expected to support that process.
