In a bid to discourage Ganesh idols made out of Plaster of Paris, which are not eco-friendly, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HDMA) will be issuing over 70,000 Ganesh idols made out of clay, for free of cost. These idols will be distributed by authorities in 24 different locations across Hyderabad. These locations include: Road No 10, IAS Quarters, Banjara Hills; Road No 1, Venkateshwara Swamy Temple, Banjara Hills; Aarogyasri office, Greenlands, Press Club Hyderabad, near Narsinghi Rajapushpa; Yellamma Temple, Balkampet; Toopes Restaurant, Jubilee Hills; StarBucks Road No 92, Jubilee Hills; Shilparamam Hitech City, Madhapur; Shilparamam, Uppal; HMDA office, Maitrivanam; Necklace Road Rotary; Priyadarshini Park, Saroornagar; Rajiv Gandhi Park, Vanasthalipuram; Metro store Kukatpally; BRKR Bhavan, Kundan Bagh; Begumpet; Durgam Cheruvu; Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sainikpuri; Narayanaguda Park; Aramghar Junction and Neknampur.
Special Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Arvind Kumar said that for additional requests to provide more idols (more than 200 units), people can directly message the HMDA via Twitter or call +91 9000627611. The Chief Secretary said that they will send a mobile camp to distribute the idols in such cases. Ganesh Chaturthi will commence on September 10 and conclude with the idol immersion on September 19 in Telangana. For the festival, the police and municipal authorities have already made arrangements like arranging cranes for the immersion, restoring roads and sanitation, fogging etc at Tank Bund. On the Tank Bund pavement, specific cobble stones have been earmarked where cranes can be set up for idol immersion, according to authorities.
@HMDA_Gov distributes 70000 clay Ganesha idols free of cost at your doorstep
— Arvind Kumar (@arvindkumar_ias) September 5, 2021
The locations alongwith date/ timings & contact details are
For additional requests ( minimum of 200 idols ), Please DM @HMDA_Gov or contact
9000627611
& we’ll send mobile camp@KTRTRS pic.twitter.com/nJ2bM4hK5y
On Saturday, September 4, Special Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Arvind Kumar visited Tank Bund to oversee the arrangements made for the smooth conduct of the festival.
In Telangana, there are no restrictions on the installation of Ganesh idols in pandals. However, devotees have to follow COVID-19 protocol such as maintaining physical distance and wearing masks to avoid infection. Earlier, there were also speculations that the government would impose a restriction on the height of the Ganesh idols. However, Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas had clarified that no such restriction will be imposed.