This year, three times less dahi handis

Even after many rules were broken, the Janmashtami celebrations remained subdued in Mumbai this year, as compared to previous. The registered dahi handi mandals which participated in the celebrations were three times lesser than compared to that of last year.

The primary reason for this drastic decrease is, many dahi handi celebrations were held in housing societies rather than the celebrated big events, which kept them off public roads.

“Last year, we had 3,358 mandals registering for public events, as compared to this year, with only 950 dahi handi mandals participating. This includes 20 women groups which registered,” said Bala Padelkar, chief of the Dahi Handi Samanvay Samiti.

On August 7 last year, the Bombay high court (HC), while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on safety of Govindas, refused to put restrictions on the height of human pyramids, but set an age limit participants to above 14 years.

Swati Patil, the petitioner and secretary of a Non Governmental Organisation Utkarsh Mahila Samajik Sansthaa, confirmed that the guidelines made by HC helped create awareness among citizens. "Many mandals concentrated on celebrations within their society, which helped decongest the streets. The guidelines given by HC made citizens aware of the dangers of the festival, especially regarding severe injuries and deaths," she said.

Patil had filed police complaints alleging few mandals which had brazenly violated rules laid down by the HC. “All mandals had Govindas between the age of 10 and 12 years of age. They had not implemented safety measures like wearing helmets, body vests, mattresses, harnesses,” stated Patil.

Most events were organised by political parties, with cash prizes up to rupees four lakh but were not revealed, fearing contempt case. “Organisers of dahi handi events this time had not revealed the prize money. I am confident they did not flout any of the HC guidelines, so there is no question of facing any contempt case,” said Padelkar.

According to Disaster Management Cell of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 212 Govindas suffered injuries during the dahi handi festivities and one Govinda from Dharavi died after suffering epileptic fit. Last year, around 150 were injured and two died.

The primary reason for this drastic decrease is, many dahi handi celebrations were held in housing societies rather than the celebrated big events, which kept them off public roads