Although the Dahi Handi festival has come out of all legal obstacles after last three year, the age limit rule is still mandatory for all Govinda Mandals. It was clarified in the High Court order that children under 14 years of age cannot be included in the human pyramid for Dahi Handi. Also in order to maintain the safety of Govinda, the uses of things like Mat, insurance cover, Chest Guard, Harness, Helmets, and Safety Belts were made mandatory by the Court. However, all these rules and guideline by the Court were violated by the prominent Govinda Mandal of Jogeshwari ‘Jai Jawan Govinda.’
The Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis was present in the Dahi Handi celebration organized by the Swami Pratishthan in Thane where Jai Jawan govinda mandal achieved the nine layered for Dahi Handi. The Chief Minister has applauded for Jai Jawan Mandal but he completely overlooked the rules violations by Jai Jawan Mandal. Mattresses, harnesses, Chest guard, safety belts and helmets were not in use.
As there are many Dahi Handi organized which gives price money in Lakhs of rupees in the Thane city, most of the prominent Govinda Mandals rushes in Thane only. This year also Anand Charitable Trust, Sanskruti Pratishthan, Thane MNS and Swami Pratishthan, were among the organizers who kept cash prizes of Lakhs of rupees. Swami Pratishthan of Shivaji Patil of BJP kept Dahi Handi reward of 25 lakhs rupees. The Jai Jawan Govinda Mandal won 11 Lakh rupees in this Dahi Handi by achieving 9 layers human pyramid but at the same time they did not obeyed any safety rules mandated by the Court. Surprisingly the Chief Minister also overlooked this matter and applauded them.
Swati Patil, Social Worker
We have lodged a complaint against Swamy Pratishthan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Commissioner of Thane Chitalsar Police station in Thane. The safety rules were violated in Swami Pratishthan Dahi Handi organized by Shivaji Patil where CM was present.
Shiv Sena–BJP violated security rules
The Dahi Handi organized in Shivsena’s Branch No. 209 in Mazgaon, violated all the security rules made mandatory by the High Court. The safety items like mat, helmet and harness were not provided by the organizers. Yashwant Jadhav, the Standing Committee Chairperson of BMC, also ignored this violation of rules and distributed the prizes to the Govinda Mandals. The similar situation was seen in Yuva Sena’s Dahihand in Shivaji Park. The Govindas did not have any safety facilities like Mat, Harness, and Helmet. Mahesh Mudaliyar from Mahim promoted BJP in Dahi Handi but did not take care of Govind’s safety.
Organizers did not take Spot Insurance
The Dahi Handi Coordination Committee had met the organizers and the Govinda Mandals to create awareness among them for the spot insurance. However many organizers or Mandals did not take any insurance, many of them said they were not aware of any such insurance cover.
Violation of Traffic rules
While the Dahi Handi celebration was going in the city, the traffic rules were violated by almost all the Govinda Mandals on the busy roads of Mumbai & Thane. The Govindas travelled on the upper side of the tempo, some were travelling triple seats on bikes. Surprisingly the Traffic Police have ignored all these rules violations.
Sandeep Dhawale, Jai Jawan Govinda Mandal Coach
We are very happy that we could have formed 9 layer human pyramid successfully and won 11 lakh rupees in the ‘Swami Pratishthan’s Dahi Handi. We have time and again proven that we are King of Govinda. We will only break our record by forming 10 layers next year.
