E-Paper
After 9-tier pyramid for dahi handi celebrations in Thane, police crack the whip
Thane Police lodged a case on Thursday against the organisers of a local dahi handi celebration that saw the formation of a nine-tier human pyramid in violation of Supreme Court guidelines.
Thane Police lodged a case on Thursday against the organisers of a local dahi handi celebration that saw the formation of a nine-tier human pyramid in violation of Supreme Court guidelines.
The ‘Jai Jawan ‘ mandal set up the massive human pyramid that measures at least 42 feet at one point, twice the limit set by the top court.
“We are in process of lodging a case against all those who participated in the nine-tier human pyramid at Naupada. They have not followed the norms of the Supreme Court,” said Thane deputy commissioner of police Parag Manere.
The violations came a day after the top court set a maximum height of 20 feet- about the height of a two-storey building – for the human pyramids formed during the Janmashtami celebrations and restricted minors from participating, citing safety concerns.
But the order was met with resistance in Maharashtra – where thousands of people participate in Dahi handi and young men form human pyramids to reach and smash a pot of curd hung on a rope as high as 40-50 feet.
“The apex court tells us not to break the handi and we are following that. We have formed a nine-tier human pyramid but have not broken the handi,” said a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader.
“We have registration of 145 mandals and till 4pm around 50 mandals have formed human pyramid.” Dahi-handi celebrations organised by the MNS violated the SC guidelines at many places.
The Thane MNS chief Avinash Jadhav was seen wearing a T-shirt that said,” Mi kayda modnar( I will break the law’). The pyramid was made in front of police who watched helplessly as young men climbed on top of each other to reach and smash a pot of curd hung from above.
Initially the handi was set up at 42 ft and a nine-tier pyramid formed but the height was lowered to 20 feet after a police request.
“ We have taken all precautionary measures. We followed the court rules and regulation and are breaking the matki at a height below 20ft. It’s a religious function that everyone should know about,” said Anil Mhatre, Thane city secretary of the MNS.
