Mumbai: Restrictions imposed by the government on the celebration of Dahi handi and the drought situation in Maharashtra has reportedly affected the economy of the ‘event’. The turnout of participants for the event is expected to go down by 30 per cent in the market. In view of the drought situation in Maharashtra and new “restrictions” imposed by the state government on the celebration of the festival, many organisers cancelled their event or shortened it.
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad has cancelled his ‘Sangharsh’ dahi handi event in Thane. NCP Mumbai chief Sachin Ahir also cancelled the Sankalp Dahihandi event held at Worli every year. While Sarnaik said he would help farmers in the drought-prone areas in association with actor Nana Patekar instead of spending money on the celebration, Ahir said: “This year the expense will be come down as we are not organising a large-scale event. We are just having a small celebration.” Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik said that he would celebrate the festival on a small scale. Generally, a dahi handi event costs organisers around Rs50 lakh. The budget depends on the prizes and the celebrities invited to the event, with costs rising up to Rs2.5 crore at times. At events with celebrities, organisers have to hire vanity vans and thousands of volunteers and bouncers. One such event needs around 2,500 volunteers and expenses are also incurred on the t-shirts distributed to them. Between 150 and 450 Govindas visit these events and organizers have to shell out at least Rs25,000 as prize money.
In the absence of such large-scale celebrations, the turnover in the market will be hit by 40 per cent, as the organizers says. MNS MLA Ram Kadam is known for offering the highest amount of prize money. This time, he has other plans for the money. He is planning to send one lakh devotees to Kumbh on the same day. “Instead of spending the money on celebrations, I will help the poor,” said Kadam. Ganesh Adivarekar, organizer of Amar Pratishtan that organises dahi handi events in Lalbaugh, said this year will see a prize-cut for the Govindas. “Every year, the budget is about Rs8 lakh to 10 lakh. This year, the budget will be low,” said Adivarekar.
