The number of those injured in the traditional ‘Dahi Handi’ celebration across Mumbai has risen to 376, officials said on Sunday.

Out of the 376 ‘govindas’ who suffered injuries in separate incidents, 90 have been admitted to various hospitals for treatment, while 286 have been discharged.

The annual ‘Dahi Handi’ celebration is organised a day after the Janmashtami festival, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna.

The hospital-wise data showed that CT hospitals reported 183 injured ‘govindas’, with 29 admitted, 23 under treatment, and 131 discharged.

WS hospitals reported 126 injuries, with nine people admitted, 14 under treatment, and 103 discharged.

Several other injured people are currently undergoing treatment in other hospitals of the city.

The latest figures mark a significant increase from the earlier BMC update on Saturday, when 118 ‘govindas’ were reported injured across Mumbai.

A day earlier, a seven-year-old boy lost his life after a brick structure collapsed during the festivities. The incident occurred at the Ekta Welfare Society in Chikuwadi at Malvani, in Mumbai’s Malad West area.

According to reports, the event organisers had tied the safety and support ropes for the Dahi Handi to a nearby tree and a ground-floor brick column of a building under construction.

Under the tension during the attempts to break the Handi, the brick column suddenly gave way. ​The collapsing structure hit young Rudra Kadam, 7, inflicting severe head injuries. He was immediately rushed to the Malvani General Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead.

Local police and BMC ward officials arrived at the spot shortly after receiving the news to investigate.

​In a separate incident in Old Sangvi, at Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad area, a 45-year-old woman, identified as Salma Salauddin Pathan, died after an iron frame set up for the celebrations collapsed on her.

The accident took place late on Saturday night following the conclusion of the event organised by the Vighnaharta Mandal. As workers were dismantling the iron arch and sound setup, a heavy metal section collapsed, striking Salma on the head. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. ​

Salma had attended the event with her husband, Salauddin, to support their son, Rahim Pathan, who is a volunteer for the Vighnaharta Mandal.

Demonstrating extraordinary restraint, the grieving family declined to lodge a formal complaint against the organisers, saying that the youth involved were like family and they did not wish to jeopardise their futures. ​Despite the family’s refusal to file a complaint, Senior Police Inspector Jitendra Koli of the Sangvi Police Station confirmed that a case of accidental death has been officially registered.

Mumbai, Sep 5: In a major step to improve transparency, security and public confidence in recruitment examinations, the Maharashtra government has constituted a high-level committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the state’s recruitment examination system.

The decision follows a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on August 12, during which the state leadership called for a complete review of recruitment examination procedures. The General Administration Department (GAD) issued the Government Resolution (GR) constituting the committee on September 4. The move comes amid controversies surrounding question paper leaks in several competitive examinations conducted for government recruitment.

The newly formed committee is chaired by V. Radha, Additional Chief Secretary (Services), General Administration Department. The seven-member panel comprises key administrative, security, technology, and academic leaders Sadanand Date — Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra State — Member, Virendra Singh — Secretary, Department of Information Technology & Artificial Intelligence — Member, Dr N Ramaswami — Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries Department — Member Secretary, Pravin Gedam — Divisional Commissioner, Nashik Division — Member, Air Marshal Ajit Shankarrao Bhosale (Retd.), AVSM, VSM — Former Member, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) — Member and Prof Shyamprasad Karagadde — Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay — Member.

The committee has been tasked with conducting an end-to-end evaluation of how state recruitment examinations are conducted across various government departments, authorities, and testing agencies.

The committee will review existing mechanisms and proposing preventive, supervisory, and accountability measures to curb paper leaks, impersonation, collusion, and the use of unauthorised electronic devices, recommend robust measures for question paper creation, moderation, printing, digital distribution, transport custody, evaluation, and result declaration and suggest action plan to integrate advanced Information Technology, digital systems, authentication protocols, access controls, audit trails, and surveillance technology into the examination lifecycle.

In addition, the committee will define minimum standards for examination centres, including physical infrastructure, surveillance, security readiness, and staff management, visit every revenue division across Maharashtra to directly engage with candidates, students, educational institutions, and stakeholders and recommend institutional mechanisms for seamless coordination among District Collectors, Police Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, educational authorities, and testing agencies, alongside establishing effective grievance redressal systems.

According to the GR, the committee will also study successfully implemented examination models in other Indian states and foreign jurisdictions. The committee will submit its comprehensive final report and recommendations to the state government after completing direct and online consultations with stakeholders.

Mumbai: Setting an example of Hindu-Muslim unity in Mumbai, the Govinda Pathaks have offered the first salute at the entrance gate of the Astana of Maham Hazrat Makhdoom Faqih Ali Mahim. The trustee of the dargah, Sohail Khandwani, said that this is the specialty of India that here everyone respects each other’s religion and the Maham Dargah is the cradle of Hindu-Muslim unity and unity. Everyone attends here without any discrimination, religion or nationality. This is the reason why the Govinda Pathaks offer salute here every year in the traditional way. This tradition has been established for centuries because India is a country of Sufi saints. In the backdrop of Gokul Ashtami Dahi Handi, the police have issued an alert at the Mumbai police station. The police used drones to monitor the Govinda Pathaks. The height of the dahi handi was also fixed. In addition, children were banned from participating in high dahi handi. The festival of Dahi Handi was celebrated with enthusiasm in Mumbai city and its suburbs. In view of this, the traffic police had also blocked the highways so that action could be taken against the violation of traffic rules. Under this, the traffic police has also taken action against the violation of traffic rules. Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti had claimed that strict security arrangements were made for Dahi Handi in Mumbai city. Accordingly, DCP Raj Tilak Roshan said that the police are fully prepared for Dahi Handi and the situation is also being monitored. Apart from this, surveillance is also being carried out using drones. DCP Raj Tilak Roshan has also appealed for compliance with the law on Dahi Handi. According to the information received from various government and BMC hospitals about the injured Govindas till noon, more than 25 Govinda Pathaks have been injured while the Dahi Handi festival is still going on. In such a situation, BMC hospitals are constantly on alert mode, along with the police, there is also an alert. No untoward incident of any kind took place during Dahi Handi in Mumbai, however, there have been incidents of Govinda Pathaks getting injured and many have been discharged after treatment. Govinda Pathaks gave the first salute from the Astana of Mumbai’s Maham Hazrat Makhdoom Faqih Ali Mahayami and presented proof of Hindu-Muslim unity and solidarity. This Govinda Mandal raises the slogan of Baba Makhdoom and Maa Sahib ki Jai every year by giving the salute at the Astana of Makhdoom in the same style. This is a slap in the face of the haters. It promotes solidarity and unity. The police had made strict security arrangements at Dahi Handi, due to which no untoward incident of any kind took place in Mumbai.