By Dhruvi Shah
In keeping with tradition, Maharashtra said goodbye to Lord Ganesh on Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, with a mix of pomp and, to some extent, sorrow, as tragic immersion-related mishaps left at least nine people dead, while reports indicate 12 other people are unaccounted for on Sunday, September 7, 2025.
Reports came in from Thane, Pune, Nanded, Nashik, Jalgaon, Washim, Palghar, and Amravati. In Pune, five people were swept away, with three bodies recovered, while in Nanded, three were washed away in Gandegaon, leaving two still missing. In Nashik, seven were swept away, while Thane’s Shahapur taluka had two dead and one missing person. Jalgaon, Washim, and Amravati also reported fatalities. In Mumbai, one person died due to electrocution during a procession, and five were injured due to electric shock.
Notwithstanding these tragedies, immersion celebrations were gloriously celebrated around the state with large public involvement. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 197,114 idols were immersed in the 11 days of the festival, including 181,375 household, 10,148 public mandal, and 5,591 Gauri idols.with a total of 36,746 idols on the last day of celebrations, during which widespread ceremonies were actively conducted by interested devotees who were indulging at immersion points entirely across the state.
This year’s Lalbaugcha Raja procession in Mumbai was among the longest ever, taking more than 32 hours to complete the procession. The 18-foot idol came to Girgaon Chowpatty Saturday afternoon.Due to a high tide, technical difficulties, and requests from police, immersion for the idol occurred at 9:15 PM Sunday evening.
In Pune, police were calling for them to stop the processions before they actually happened. Over 32 hours later, processions were still continuing. 748000 idols in households and nearly 4000 large mandal immersion idols were immersed.
According to BMC numbers, they were able to collect 508 tonnes of nirmalya (floral offerings) from natural bodies of water and artificial ponds. Enormous pre-immersion and post-immersion cleanup was conducted.
Wrapping the festival up were chants of “Ganapathi Bappa Morya, next year (Ganesh) come back!” Amid the farewell to Bappa, the team continues the search for the missing.