Telugu film actress Manchu Laxmi on Saturday advised Municipal Administration Minister K. Tarakarama Rao to regulate the celebration of Ganesh festival in Hyderabad.
In an open letter to KTR, posted on her Twitter wall, Manchu Laxmi pointed out the indiscriminate digging of roads, cutting of cables and erection of arches for Ganesh pandals. "This morning, I was driving on Road No. 1, Film Nagar, one of the traffic-congested roads when I saw dug-up spaces for construction of arches and Pandals opposite the Film Nagar Club. Not just this. I also noticed a lot of overhead cables been cut for carrying tall Ganapati idols across. As a concerned citizen, I want to know who's responsible for the execution of all this?" she asked KTR on Twitter.
The film actress said that the Ganesh festival was not treated as a religious affair anymore but a competition. "Every locality is putting all their energy into outdoing the other in the context of the grandeur of the celebrations," she said and suggested that there should be only one Ganesh Pandal in a locality. "This will not only encourage unity but also reinstate the motive of celebrating together and safeguard the tradition," she said.
Manchu Laxmi also advised that the government keep a cap on the width and height of the idols and have them monitored. "Hyderabad is blossoming into one of the most progressive cities and we need to maintain this. It breaks my heart to see this happening to our city," she Tweeted. She also posted a few pictures wherein roads were dug to erect arches.