125 beds ready at Mumbai civic hospitals for Govindas who may get hurt during dahi handi celebrations

The civic body has deputed health officers and staff in three shifts to treat the injured Govindas at these hospitals, which have been directed to keep injections, medicines and surgery materials ready.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that it has kept 125 beds ready at civic hospitals in the city in case any 'Govinda' – a person forming a human pyramid as part of a group activity during the Dahi Handi festival – gets injured during the act.

Dahi Handi will be celebrated in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra on Thursday. It is part of the Krishna Janmashtami festival, celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna. During the festival, Govindas form a human pyramid to break a 'dahi handi' (curd pot) suspended in the air.

In a release issued on Wednesday, the BMC said that of the 125 beds, 10 are kept ready at Sion hospital, seven at KEM hospital, four at Nair hospital and the remaining ones at various civic hospitals in the city and suburbs.

According to the civic body, it has deputed health officers and staff in three shifts to treat the injured Govindas at these hospitals, which have been directed to keep injections, medicines and surgery materials ready.

Those Govindas, who sustain minor injuries, will be given primary treatment and discharged, while arrangements have been made at the hospitals to treat those who need treatment for a longer period, the release said.

As part of the celebrations, Govinda troops visit various parts of the city to break dahi handi, an earthen pot filled with curd (dahi), butter or other milk products. Since the dahi handi is placed several feet above the ground, the Govindas form multi-tiered human pyramids to reach and break it.

There are chances of participants falling down and injuring themselves, sometimes critically, during the formation of human pyramids.

Some organisers of the dahi handi event offer hefty cash prizes for the Govinda troops that succeed in breaking the pot. Some prominent Govinda teams even attempt the formation of 8 to 9-tiered human pyramids.