Mumbai's Dahi Handi celebrations on Janmashtami pull lakhs of people onto the streets every year, and this time the crowds and the festive chaos ended up costing many motorists dearly. Mumbai Traffic Police carried out a large scale crackdown on drivers who broke traffic rules during the celebrations, collecting nearly two crore rupees in fines.
Over 18,000 e-challans in a single day
The traffic department issued 18,818 e-challans on Saturday alone, with fines totalling ₹1.92 crore. While teams of Govindas were busy forming human pyramids and breaking dahi handis worth lakhs of rupees in prize money across the city, the police crackdown was running in parallel. Additional e-challans are still being issued against other drivers identified later through CCTV footage, meaning the total fine amount is likely to climb further.
The violations that triggered the crackdown
Police specifically targeted motorists who ignored traffic rules during the celebrations. The violations included dangerous and overspeeding driving, riding without a helmet, triple seat riding on two wheelers, and entering no entry zones. These are offences that are risky on any given day, but they turn far more dangerous amid the massive crowds that gather for Dahi Handi.
Traffic obstruction tops the list
The numbers show that the largest single category of challans was for causing traffic obstruction, with 3,727 e-challans issued for this alone, the highest count among all violations recorded on Saturday. Human pyramids forming at multiple spots and crowds gathering to watch already slow down traffic on such days, and reckless driving and haphazard parking by some motorists only added to the congestion.
