Bhiwandi: The Kamvari river water level has risen after heavy rains since Friday night, which dampened the enthusiasm of the devotees who had gone to the river side to immerse the to five days Gauri Ganpati deities on September 7.
Rajkumar Shinde Bhiwandi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (zone 2) of Thane police, said they cautioned the devotees from going to the river. "The Kamvari river water level has risen and we wanted no incident on the immersion day and humbly request all the devotees to immerse the idols in the nearby immersion ghat, according to their convenience. We request the devotees to take care of their children during immersions, as a precautionary measure." Many devotees who celebrate Gauri Ganpati go to Kamvari river for immersing the deities. This entire immersion falls under the jurisdiction of Shelar Gram panchayat of Bhiwandi rural. The devotees faced many difficulties at the time of immersion. The Bhiwandi Nizampura Municipal corporation diverted many devotees to the Tailak ghat to immerse the Gauri and Ganesha deities.
Water logging was reported near Nadinaka, Durga apartments, Latif compound and Shelar police chowky areas. Kanhaiya Yadav, a devotee and resident of Meet pada area said, "Due to heavy rains, every nullah has got chocked which led to waterlogging. We had to carry our Ganesha idol safely and wade through in knee-deep water. The local authority did not clean the nullahs prior to the monsoon season, which led to the floods, this year".
Vaibhav Wangekar, a band troupe owner said, "Three parties were cancelled due to the heavy rains. Our band party got three orders but the devotees could not celebrate with enthusiasm to immerse the Ganesh idols due to waterlogging". One devotee said that they cancelled the band party and their children too could join the immersion procession because of the potholes ridden roads."
