Mumbai: In a victory for animal rights activists, the Bombay high court on Monday declared that horse-drawn carriages -locally called `Victorias’ -used for joyrides along the seaside, were “illegal“, and set a June 2016 deadline to phase them out.
Hearing a PIL filed by Animals and Birds Charitable Trust, an NGO, a bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anil Menon ordered Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shut down stables housing horses and ponies in the city within a year.
“The activity of running Victorias driven by horses in Mum bai for joyrides is completely illegal and is required to be stopped,“ said the judges, adding it also amounts to violating the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
“The activity of horse-driven carriages only for joyrides solely for human pleasure is an avoidable human activity ,“ they said.
The court’s decision to ban the carriages, which now ply only on the Marine Drive, Nariman Point and Gateway of India, was also based on existing licensing rules, the fact that they are a safety risk and a traffic hazard on crowded Mumbai roads. While such carriages can operate in other cities when used for public conveyance, the HC asked the state to taken action whenever they are used for joyrides. The authorities have also been asked to act against those treating the horses cruelly .
At the same time, the court has asked the state government to frame a plan for the rehabilitation of the carriage owners –Victorias are a source of livelihood to about 700 families -and the horses.
Victorias have been a feature on Mumbai streets for decades. In 1973, when the government brought in a new rule to deny renewal of licenses for the horse-driven carriages, there were around 800 Victorias in the city. By 2011, when the PIL was filed seeking a ban, there were around 130 left.
The Victorias were given licences under a 1920 law for being used as a public conveyance. The HC said the Victorias were not presently plying for either conveyance of passengers or goods and their use was limited to joyrides.
The court also extensively relied on affidavits filed by Mumbai traffic police, who classified these carriages as a safety risk and not in public interest. “The horse-drawn carriages now serve to be an encumbrance and a great hazard on the already crowded streets of Mumbai,“ said the affidavit.
The court took into consideration the traffic police’s report on the way the horses were treated -unfit horses were made to draw carriages that were overloaded with passengers and they were made to ply on concrete and tar roads without proper horse shoes.
“The horses which are used to propel the Victorias suffer from diseases and are unable to manoeuvre themselves in heavy traffic, leading to accidents,“ one of the affidavits said.
