At least 17 people have died by drowning during Ganesh visarjan (idol immersion) across Maharashtra in the past 24 hours. Five people have also gone missing in different districts during the occasion. Alarge number of people across the state attended Ganpati visarjan procession intheir respective towns on Thursday amid tight security. Thursday marked the endof the 10-day long Ganesh Chaturthi festival, celebrated in Maharashtra with full fervour. However, the celebrations at various places were marred by incidents like these.

Four people died in Amravati, followed by three in Ratnagiri, two each in Nashik, Sindhudurg and Satara and one each in Thane,Dhule, Buldhana and Bhandara. In a similar incident, 11 people have died and five went missing after a boat capsized during Ganpati Visarjan at Bhopal's Khatlapura Ghat on Friday morning. Police along with the State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) personnel and a team of divers are carrying out the rescue operations.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has directed amagisterial inquiry into the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakhto families of deceased.