Mumbai: One Dead, 290 Injured in Mumbai’s Dahi Handi Celebrations

Media Release

Mumbai, Aug 20, 2014: Monday’s popular Dahi Handi celebrations, in which festival-goers mark the birth of the Hindu god Krishna by building towering human pyramids, left nearly 300 people injured in Mumbai and surrounding areas, 29 of them seriously, officials said.

 

One man also died of a heart attack, but he wasn’t one of those participating in making the pyramids, police and hospital officials said.

 

 

Mumbai’s High Court tried to impose limits on the pyramids last week, banning children under 18 from participating in the festivities and restricting the height of pyramids to 20 feet. However later in the week, the Supreme Court of India overruled the age and height limits, allowing children above the age of 12 to join the festival.

 

There were 268 injuries reported in Mumbai, and 19 in the suburb of Thane, police said Tuesday. Most of those hurt were taken to nearby hospitals and released, but 29 were admitted for serious injuries, said an officer at Mumbai’s police control room.

 

• Truckloads of of young men — called Govindas which is one of Krishna’s many names — traveled around Mumbai Monday, competing at events to build pyramids to win cash and other prizes.

 

Rajendra Ambekar, 46, who was dancing at one such event in Thane, suffered a heart attack and died Monday, said an officer at Thane’s police control room. Mr. Ambekar was rushed to Thane Civil Hospital, but had died before he arrived, said R. I. Rathod, additional civil surgeon at the hospital.

 

• The most injuries were reported in the Mumbai neighborhoods of Worli, Dadar and Parel. Of the 137 patients who were brought to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Parel, 11 stayed overnight and three underwent surgeries for fractures, said the hospital’s chief medical officer Pravin Bangar.

 

“Most were admitted for lower limb (and) upper limb fractures and one for a head injury,” said Mr. Bangar.

 

While the courts had advised organizers of Dahi Handi events to require helmets and other safety measures, there were few signs of new safety precautions and many participants looked below the legal age limit at one of the largest events in southern Mumbai on Monday.

 

Still the legal intervention may have helped reduce the number of injuries. Last year, 625 injuries were reported, according to the Times of India.