As smooth as it gets: An idol being immersed in water using mechanical quick-release hook developed by a private firm. more-in The stress and strain of immersing Ganesha idols in water bodies using traditional methods adopted by crane operators was visibly missing this year, as the Hyderabad police used hassle-free hooks that were attached to cranes for seamless lowering of the idols. Earlier, it used to take at least 30 minutes for hooking an idol to a crane and releasing it in water, but this year, the process was completed in less than five minutes with the help of news hooks, said Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar. He said the city police procured about 160 such mechanical quick-release hooks developed by a private firm and were successfully used at Tank Bund. Speaking to The Hindu about the specifications of the newly-designed hook, he said it was developed on the famous cantilever principle and once the hooks touch the water surface, they get released immediately due to buoyancy of water. The new technology was adopted to ensure quicker immersion of idols, he said. Not much traffic jam “With immersion time coming down due to usage of new technology, there was not much traffic jam on the Tank Bund or other immersion places in the city,” he said, adding that even the crane operators were happy about it. He said earlier, the police used a U-shaped hook weighing about 15 kg for lowering the idols into water, which needed manpower. “But this hook does not need human intervention and is quick and safe,” he said, adding that it was hardly 5.6 kg.

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