Cuttack, Sept. 11: The first leg of Ganesh idol immersions went peacefully here today.

More than 500 idols were immersed in temporary ponds dug by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) at seven locations along the embankments of Mahanadi and Kathajodi rivers.

For the second consecutive year, the CMC dug large trenches as part of the ongoing measures to check water pollution in the process of immersing idols in the city. The civic body has been doing this in accordance with orders of Orissa High Court.

"Following guidelines, temporary sites were identified for facilitating the immersion ceremony. The civic body has also deployed adequate manpower to clear the waste from the trenches for proper disposal," said municipal commissioner Gyana Das.

The move elicited positive response among the clubs and youth associations with them making a beeline to the temporary ponds for immersing their idols in a disciplined manner.

Youngsters played with colours and danced to the tunes of traditional songs as they took the idols for immersion in the city this year.

The police were on their toes to avoid any breach of security during the immersion process.

"We had deployed over 30 platoons of policemen to maintain law and order during the first leg of the immersion ceremony that passed off without any untoward incident," said deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Arora.

He said a mobile team had also been formed to ensure that the youth associations and clubs that were issued licence for immersion in the first phase did not violate noise pollution norms.

All clubs and Puja committees had been asked to stick to the 65-decible norm during the immersion ceremony. No Puja committee was allowed to use DJs and more than six loudspeakers.

The mobile squad of the police had been asked to report any violations for taking adequate action against the clubs, as well as the orchestra party, in case of violation after the immersion ceremony, Arora said.