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  Govindas face ground reality

Govindas face ground reality

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Aug 27, 2016, 4:54 am IST
Updated : Aug 27, 2016, 4:54 am IST

The Mumbai police has registered a total of 20 cases against various Govinda mandals for violating Supreme Court guidelines regarding Dahi Handi celebrations in the city.

Govindas raise a black flag in protest against the SC order on dahi handis, in Dadar.
 Govindas raise a black flag in protest against the SC order on dahi handis, in Dadar.

The Mumbai police has registered a total of 20 cases against various Govinda mandals for violating Supreme Court guidelines regarding Dahi Handi celebrations in the city.

A majority of the cases have been registered in the central region. Surprisingly, some truck drivers who were ferrying the participants from one venue to another were also booked for driving in a rash manner.

Of the 20, seven cases were registered against organisers at Chembur police station. Koliwada Govind Pathak was booked for building an eight-layer pyramid that was way above the prescribed guideline of 20 feet. Bal Mitra Govind Pathak from Santa Cruz, which organised a handi-breaking event in Chembur, was also booked for the same offence.

The Chembur police also booked three organisers for making minors participate and making them the top-most Govinda who breaks the handi. According to officials, Ashtavinayank Govind Pathak, Abhinav Govind Pathak and Vir Bajrang Govind Pathak had minors as young as four and six years old participating in the human pyramid.

The Shivaji Park police saw five cases registered against organisers, mainly for not limiting the height of the handis to 20 feet. The Kala Chowkie police also saw four instances of violations and booked cases against the organisers concerned.

A senior police officer revealed that the dahi handi organiser and the chief of Golden Krida Mandal was booked for violating the set guidelines at Ranade Road in Dadar and for causing noise pollution. The Kurla police also registered an offence against an organiser for the same reasons.

In addition to cases against organisers, truck drivers were also hauled up for speeding. The police also said these truck drivers were ferrying participants from one place to another and, in the process, were carrying extra people on the truck, thus risking their safety.

The Thane police registered one more case on Thursday night against Nanda Kumar Shedge, who was the organiser of Tembi Naka Mitra Mandal. A Thane police officer said that the rule of a maximum height of 20 feet for handis and traffic rules was violated at Tembi Naka. No arrest had been made in the case till late in the evening on Friday.

The Naupada police had registered a case against 16 Govinda mandals and organiser Avinash Jadhav on Thursday.

The Thane (rural) police also registered three cases against Dahi Handi organisers in Mira-Bhayandar, who too had defied the Supreme Court’s order in context to height restrictions. A minor Govinda, meanwhile, was left with a fractured arm while attempting to break a handi at a slum cluster in Bhayandar (west). A case has been registered and investigations are on in the case, the police said.