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No rehabilitation in sight for Victoria owners

As per the order passed on June 8 last year, the Maharashtra government was told to present a rehabilitation scheme for Victoria owners by December 31, 2015.

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A Victoria carriage near the Gateway of India
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It has been almost a year since an order was passed by the Bombay High Court to ban Victoria carriages in Mumbai and rehabilitate the owners. However, while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has moved to ban Victorias and shut down stables for the horses from May 1, no rehabilitation scheme has been proposed, leaving owners in despair.

As per the order passed on June 8 last year, the Maharashtra government was told to present a rehabilitation scheme for Victoria owners by December 31, 2015. However, even after attaining a three-month extension for the same from the court, the state is still not clear about the rehabilitation scheme.

Dr Manilal Valliyate, the director of veterinary affairs for People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(Peta), an organisation that is one of the petitioners in the case, said: "Two months ago, we met the chief secretary with a letter reminding him about the urgency of the situation and the need to avoid contempt of court. Several meetings were organised from their side to come to a suitable conclusion. However, the meetings are still on and in the midst of all these delays, the animals are continuing to suffer."

KP Bakshi, additional chief secretary of the home department, said: "We've done what we can from our side, regardless of our hands being tied. We are ready to offer them (Victoria carriage owners) taxi, auto or hawker licences, but the parties should agree." He further said: "The issue is going to take at least three more months to be resolved. We are certainly going to ask for another extension from the court."

Executive health officer Padmajha Keskar said: "Rehabilitation is the responsibility of the state, not ours. We are fulfilling what has been asked of us by the court. We will start the procedures from May 1 (2016) itself. These horses will later be sent to two NGOs."

Ganpat Mokal, a spokesperson for Victoria owners, said: "We were of the view that we will first get rehabilitation and then the ban would be implemented. But, we were given a notice that said that the ban will be in place from May 1 onwards, which will leave us with nothing in hand, thus leaving us helpless."

A few Victoria owners said on the condition of anonymity: "A few of our licences haven't been renewed since 2012-13. We were told to sign documents that offered us a choice between taxi, auto or hawker permits. A few of us signed these since we were threatened that we would otherwise not be left with anything in hand."

Talking about the ban, advocate Mangesh Nirkhee from Jalna, Aurangabad, who is fighting the case for the Victoria owners, said: "On behalf of my clients, we've appealed to the Supreme Court with a special leave petition to stay the ban for the welfare of my clients. As far as rehabilitation is concerned, the state hasn't informed me about any procedures regarding the same. Also, the (rehabilitation) procedure is very complicated because of a lot of discrepancies in caste and educational backgrounds of the Victoria carriage owners."

Senior officials of the BMC remained unavailable for comment.

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