Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) The most popular of Ganesh Chaturthi venues here has taken an insurance cover of Rs.14 crore.
The Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal – among the oldest Ganesh associations here – has also taken a further insurance cover for devotees and marquees, an official said.
Founded in 1934, the Mandal attracts up to 1.5 million devotees daily during the festival, posing a security nightmare for the organisers and police.
Across Mumbai, tens of thousands flocked to various venues where big and small idols of Lord Ganesh were on display.
Police are using CCTVs and metal detectors to keep an eye on devotees. Assisting the local police are State Reserve Police Force, Riot Protection Force and Rapid Action Force.
This year, Mumbai boasts of over 250,000 big and small idols of Ganesh.
From slum-dwellers to celebrities, everyone throngs the venues. Bollywood personalities like Lata Mangeshkar, J.P. Dutta, Salman Khan and Nana Patekar are known to put up Ganesh idols in their homes.
The coastal Konkan region of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will see another 150,000 idols.
‘Ganeshotsav is bigger than Diwali for us,’ said Baliram Uke, a panchayat committee member of Ratnagiri.
