Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad   

Procession over? Krishna Rao can't hide his delight

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD Sept. 9. It was 4.20 p.m. on Tuesday and the Charminar ACP office lit up with smiles all around. As the last vehicle carrying the Ganesh idol from the old city crossed Charminar, police officials, including the Commissioner, M.V. Krishna Rao, rose from their seats with happiness writ large on their faces. The moment they realised the procession `is over at Charminar,' the officers wasted no time in patting the shoulders of their fellow officers and subordinates.

Warm handshakes and hugs were exchanged. When the South Zone DCP, Harish Kumar Gupta, walked into the office, Mr. Rao shook his hand, saying "Congratulations, my boy. Well done.''

The Commissioner went on to pat the Task Force DCP, Y. Gangadhar, the Additional DCP, Shivashankar Reddy, the Falaknuma ACP, Muralidhar Rao, and others. The Additional Commissioner (Co-ordination), A.K. Khan, who had just finished a press meet, had a broad smile on his face.

While sharing his joy over the peaceful conduct of the procession, Mr. Rao cautioned them to be alert till it crossed Nayapul bridge. There was more than one reason for the elation of the police force. The entire city police were on `stand-to-orders' in the last nine days to oversee security arrangements in the light of the controversy surrounding Mumbai blast link to the city.

Though the low turn-out of the public along the procession route and at Charminar was largely attributed to the immersion of 6,000 and odd idols the previous night, heavy bandobust helped in the peaceful conduct of the festival. Save for an argument between organisers and the police for a few minutes at Shalibanda and stone-pelting at Hussainialam, there was no untoward incident. Like last year, the police kept ready `cultural troops' and `some cash' to use in an emergency. While the cultural teams were asked to perform on the road, cash was given to drummers to speed up the movement of vehicles carrying the idols.

Mr. Khan, who monitored the procession by flying in a chopper thrice, observed: "Staggered timings, focus on east and west zones, increased number of cranes, 10,000-strong police force plus 8,000 men and officers from other regions has made our job easier.'' Twelve cranes, seven on upper Tank Bund and five at Buddha Purnima project, would be positioned on Wednesday also. A total of 5,430 idols were immersed at Tank Bund and at Buddha Purnima by 9 p.m. and the number was expected to cross 10,000 by Wednesday morning.

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