At least 20 die on Ganesh immersion day in Maharashtra

Noise levels recorded in Mumbai during the last day of the Ganpati festival reached a two-year high, at 120 dB

Fourteen persons drowned and six others died in different incidents across Maharashtra during the immersion of Ganesh idols on Friday, police said on Saturday.

The idols were immersed as the 10-day Ganesh festival, which started on August 31, ended on Ananthachaturdashi on Friday.

Sharing further details, police said, four persons drowned in Wardha district – three at Sawangi and one at Devli, while two died in a similar manner in Yavatmal district during the immersion of an idol.

Similar incidents were reported from Ahmednagar district where two persons drowned in separate incidents at Supa and Belvandi, and other two died in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra - one each at Chalisgaon and Jamner.

According to the police, one person each died at Ghodegaon and Yavat in Pune district, in Dhule, Lonikand in Satara district and Solapur city.

Meanwhile, four persons died in a road accident at Sakkardara area in Nagpur during Ganesh immersion, and a 55-year-old woman was killed and four others injured after a tree collapsed on a Ganesh pandal in Kolbad area of Thane, due to heavy rains on Friday.

Officials said that a huge tree uprooted and fell on the pandal while the locals were performing aarti of Lord Ganesh's idol before taking out the immersion procession. The woman, Rajashri Walavalkar, was seriously injured in the accident and succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital. She was pronounced brought dead by the duty doctor.