More than 2,500 Ganesh idols immersed in Mumbai on 5th day of festival

More than 2,500 Ganesh idols were immersed in Mumbai by Wednesday evening, on the fifth day of the festival dedicated to the elephant-headed deity, civic officials said. Of the 2,574 idols immersed in the sea and artificial ponds in the city till 6 pm, 2,533 were from households and 16 belonged to sarvajanik mandals' (community groups), said the officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). During the 10-day Ganpati festival, devotees usually bid an emotional farewell to the idols of their beloved deity after one-and-a-half days, five days, and seven days. Of the Ganesh idols immersed on the fifth day so far, 1,092, including 1,081 household idols, were put in artificial ponds, set up to avoid pollution of natural water bodies, across the city. Eight sarvajanik Ganesh idols were immersed in these artificial ponds. No untoward incident was reported anywhere during the immersion, said the BMC. Ganeshotsav, which started with Ganesh Chaturthi on September 7, is one of