Mangaluru, Oct 19: The 'Shobha Yatra' (procession) marking the culmination of this year's Mangaluru Dasara celebrations began from the Kudroli Gokarnanatheshwara temple here Friday evening.

The grand procession, in which thousands of devotees are taking part, began at the temple complex and will conclude at the same venue with the immersion of the idols at the Pushkarini pond in the temple premises early Saturday.

Idols of Navadurga, goddess Sharada Devi and Lord Ganesha are being carried in the procession by the crowd in a festive mood.

The procession began with rituals held at the temple in the presence of veteran Congress leader and organiser of the event B Janardhana Poojary and other office-bearers of the temple.

Over 70 tableaux, music bands, decorative umbrellas and performance of folk artiste groups from across the state are the main attractions of the procession.

The city had been illuminated with colourful lamps for the past nine days as part of the celebrations.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had visited the Kudroli temple on October 14 to formally inaugurate the celebrations.

The duration of the procession through the main streets of the city has been brought down to 12 hours this year instead of 16 hours.

Police have made elaborate security arrangements in the city to check any untoward incident during the procession.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.

The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.

As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.

"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.

"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.

Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.