MNS plans to take Dahi handi height to 40 ft

In what could be a case of contempt of court order, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has pledged to go ahead with the 40ft Dahi handi and announced prize money of Rs11 lakhs for a 9-tier pyramid.

Other parties including Congress and Shiv Sena have stalled the Dahi handi celebrations in Thane. However, the famous Dahi handi event of NCP MLA Jeetendra Ahwad will be celebrated at a small scale.

With the Supreme Court capping the Dahi handi height at 20ft, politicians have been stalling their celebrations in Thane.

Avinash Jadhav, Thane district MNS president, said, "We have announced prize money for a 9-tier pyramid and will raise the height of the handi to 40ft."

"We feel that the sport should be encouraged and not feared," said Jadhav.

When asked about the apex court order, Jadhav said: "We respect the order of the Supreme Court, but we will celebrate the festival the way we do every year."

On the other hand, Awhad said: "We respect the SC order and we will celebrate the festival but in a smaller way without pomp."

After the SC order, the Gokul Ashtami in Thane will be celebrated in a small scale. "We celebrated Dahi handi on big scale but with the SC order we plan to celebrate with less human resource and without minors," said Kiran Choudhary of Krishna Mangal Ganesh Mandal from Thane.