Mumbai: Multiple dahi handi groups in Dadar were seen side-stepping the 20-feet rule, where three separate pyramids showcasing the Govindas skills were formed, but a tall ladder was brought in to break the handi. Only three Govindas climbed up and broke the handi filled with curd. In other places handis were lowered at the time of breaking. But reports of human pyramids flouting the 20-feet rule have come in from Thane. Some MNS supporters wore t shirts saying' I will break the law'.
Some organisers have defied the Supreme Court order capping the height of dahi handi human pyramids at 20 feet from the ground. The huge dahi handi celebrations at Dadar and Dombivili were found to be flouting the SC order by using a ladder. Over one-third of 3,387 dahi handis in Mumbai are organised by the various political parties. To prevent violation of the SC order, the police are video-graphing the celebrations. At some places, the SC order was strictly complied with. They used a ladder to reach the handis. The SC has also instructed the festival organisers not to allow underage children to participate in human pyramids.
On Wednesday, the SC had rejected a review petition that argued that a height restriction would spoil one of India’s most-prominent colourful festivals. The Maharashtra government had also requested the Apex court to increase the maximum allowed height of the human pyramids from 20 to 25 feet.
The ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena has openly criticised the verdict saying that the judiciary was overstepping the “laxman rekha” that separates it from the executive functions of a democratically elected government.
A hard hitting editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana said, “Lokmanya Tilak had asked British government if it had lost it sanity and was sent to the Mandalay prison on sedition charges for six years. But that was during the British government and its courts. But now a situation is emerging where we need to object to judicial activism in independent India because though there is a democratically elected government, the courts are handling the real governance.”
The police are planning to take action against those who have violated the SC order once the celebrations are over.
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