Mumbai : There is a serious proposal to give the ‘ Dahi Handi’ festival the status of an ‘‘adventure sport,’’ which could lead to introduction of safety gear for young Govindas.
Concerned over the rising incidence of fatal accidents during ‘Dahi handi’ festival, the Bombay High Court had on August 11, 2014, asked the state government to issue a circular banning participation of children below 18 years in the formation of human pyramids.
The court had also directed the State to restrict the height of human pyramids to 20 feet and asked the organizers to adopt proper safety measure.
In the subsequent discussions in the State Assembly, members demanded across the board that the tradition be declared as an ‘adventure sport’ and that proper arrangements be made to ensure safety of participants in this mega festival.
The assembly had then appointed a committee to mull over the matter and make suggestions to the assembly to take proper action. A committee of the Legislative Assembly under MLA Ashish Shelar discussed the issues related to the festival and is slated to meet again on June 10, wherein a decision may be taken to declare Dahi Handi an adventure sport , sources said.
“We discussed the draft submitted by the sports ministry officials. We want the state government to recognize the tradition as an ‘Adventure Sport’,” Shelar told reporters after the meeting. “Today we had a preliminary discussion. But we want to take into consideration all aspects of the issue.
Hence we have decided to meet again on Friday (July 10). We hope to finalise the draft in that meeting. Today we moved a step closer to the decision,” Shelar added.
The committee includes MLAs Pratap Sarnaik (Shiv Sena) and Jitendra Awhad (NCP), Coordinator of Dahi Handi federation Bala Padelkar and Gita Zagde along with others. Cultural Minister Vinod Tawde on December 11, 2014, had told the Assembly that the government would try to find ways to transform this ‘tradition’ of Maharashtra into a ‘Safe Sport’.
