Punjab: Man drowns in Satluj River during Ganesh Chaturthi idol immersion

Ludhiana (Punjab) [India], September 14 (ANI): A young man drowned in the Sutlej while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha in the river on the occasion of Ganesh Visarjan on Saturday.

The deceased was identified as Harsh Mehra, a resident of Kila Mohalla area in Ludhiana.

The young individual was swept away in the strong currents of the water, after which the body was recovered from the river with the help of divers, said the police.

Ludhiana’s Ladowal police station in-charge, Harpreet Singh, shared information about the incident and said, “A young man was swept away by the strong current of water in Sutlej during Ganpati immersion on Friday evening. After receiving information about the incident, the body of the young man was recovered with the help of divers.”

The official further appealed to people to be cautious during religious activities.

Earlier in a similar incident, eight people drowned while bathing in the Meshwo river in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar on Friday. The incident took place in Vasna Sogathi village.

According to Deputy SP, Gandhinagar DT Gohil, “There is Vasna Sogathi village in the Dehgam tehsil. Nine youth from the village came to the dam on the Meshwo River at noon. They were bathing here and the idol of Lord Ganesh also came for Visarjan. Out of those 9 people, one was drowning while bathing. So, other people also came to save him. Till now, we have recovered 8 bodies from here.”

“An eyewitness has said that only 8 people drowned. So accordingly, we have recovered all the bodies. Still, the teams of SDRF and NDRF are deployed here to ensure that anyone else is not missing in this area,” said the official.

Speaking on the rescue efforts, NDRF Team Commander Lakhan Raghuvanshi said, “The Gandhinagar NDRF team is actively engaged in the operation. We have recovered eight bodies, and according to local reports, one person remains unaccounted for. Our divers are working tirelessly to conduct the rescue operation, with both NDRF and SDRF teams involved.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the loss of lives in the drowning incident in Gandhinagar.

In a post on X, PM Modi wrote, “Deeply saddened by the news of the loss of life in the drowning incident in Dehgam taluk of Gujarat. My condolences to all the families who have lost their loved ones in this tragedy.”