Man dies at the feet of Lord Ganesha in Mumbai

The spot where Mahesh Gawde died while immersing a Ganpati idol in Powai lake early on Monday. Pic/Atul Kamble

It's almost as if Mahesh Gawde was called to his death. The 28-year-old resident of Garib Nagar, Powai, died after he banged his head against the feet of the Ganpati idol that he and his friends were immersing in Powai lake around 12.15 am on Monday.

Mahesh Gawde

Arvind Shankar Shinde, president of Powai Nagrik Seva Sangh, the mandal that Mahesh was part of, said owing to the water pressure, the idol bobbed up on immersion. "It was heavy. So, when it rose, it hit Gauda's head hard."

Although Gauda was part of the Powai Nagrik Seva Sangh, he tagged along to the Powai lake with another mandal. He chipped in to help the Sangh during the immersion since he was still sporting its T-shirt.

Shinde revealed that Gauda would have been alive had he stuck to his plan of notjoining the festivities. The youth had skipped all ofthe mandal's meetings and celebrations in the last two days and had planned to miss the immersion as well. "He had not been coming for the Seva work owing to personal reasons. He had not planned to come on Sunday either."

Other members of the Sangh, who helped fish out Gauda's body from the lake, alleged that he had got himself drunk before wading into the waters, and that the intoxication led to his death. "It took us a long time to take the body out. All of us could tell that he had been drunk," said Ashish Pawar, one of the members.

Shinde, however, claimed that none his boys were drunk. "There are times when they feel cold and for that, they quaff down a little."

He cautioned against treating immersion sites as "battlefields". "People should remember that these are places of worship and should be more careful. Despite being from different mandals, they should work together to prevent such accidents."

Gauda's body was taken to the Hiranandani Hospital