THANE: The deadly outbreak of Swine Flu across the city succeeded in the suspension of the age old ritual of Dahi Handi breaking in the city of Thane on the occasion of Janmashtami on Friday. All the major organisations involved in hosting of major Dahi Handis in the city chose to observe the festival in a simple and symbolic way to avoid chances of spread of the deadly H1N1 virus through human contacts.
The Tembhi Naka Dahi Handi of sitting Shiv Sena corporator Rajan Vichare was reduced to a simple ritual in the form of a puja at around midnight on Thursday. The occasion was to mark the birth of Lord Krishna at that time. A symbolic Dahi Handi was also broken on the occasion to keep alive the several decades' old tradition.
NCP MLC Jitendra Avhad completely cancelled his planned function on the occasion through his social organisation ‘Sangharsh’. The MLC used to host the Dahi Handi breaking ceremony at Pachpakhadi in a big way every year and the event used to attract tens of thousands of persons for the Dahi Handi breaking.
This time the MLC had planned a bigger event and more number of persons as well as Govinda Mandals were to come to the city for the purpose. A Dahi Handi of Rs Rs 21 lakh was kept for the mega festival and the MLD had planned a total expense of Rs 30 lakh for the function including the cost of its live coverage in the media.
Avhad decided to put off the ceremony in public interest on Tuesday. Instead he spent the entire amount on the purchase of two ambulances for the welfare of the citizens of Thane. The two ambulances were donated by the MLC for the purpose on Friday afternoon during a simple function at the office of his organization.
Congress leader and corporator Major Shinde and his brother Shailesh Shinde also put off their planned Dahi Handi utsav at Vikrant Chowk in Wagle Estate in the wake of the epidemic of swine flu. The congressmen held simple functions including Puja ceremony with their supporters to mark the occasion.
Pratap Sarnaik, a Sena leader from Pokhran Road also put off his planned Dahi Handi at Samata Nagar. The leader had been planning the occasion in a big way with assistance from private hospitals as well as security agencies. Sarnaik had arranged for three ICCU vans at the site of his planned utsav to cope up with any emergency medical requirements.
Earlier the TMC as well as the state government had warned of spread of the deadly virus during public ceremonies involving huge crowds. Organisers of events were requested not to resort to events that invited huge crowds. Civic schools were closed down for seven days and so were cinema halls for three days. Business houses including malls that invited huge crowds were also called upon to desist from acts that attracted people in large numbers to their business spots.
courtesy
: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
