A horse ride on Marine Drive may soon be history

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court yesterday asked civic authorities to seize the horses kept in unlicensed stables in the city and hand them over to the NGO Animals and Birds Charitable Trust. This might spell an effective end of ‘victorias’, the horse carriages, as very few carriage-horses are housed in licensed stables. [caption id=“attachment_138887” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A horse ride at Marine Drive or near the Taj might soon be a thing of the past. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters”] [/caption] The NGO-Trust has filed a PIL, seeking phasing out of horse carriages, called ‘victoria’, from city roads, and an eventual ban on the use of horses and ponies for drawing carriages and beach rides. It contends that horses are treated cruelly by their owners. The trust’s lawyer yesterday told the division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi that it had land in Panvel, where the seized horses could be rehabilitated at the trust’s expense. Government Pleader Niranjan Pandit said that the number of victorias in Mumbai was dwindling fast. “Now there are about 130 drivers who hold the license to drive a carriage,” he said. The High Court has asked the executive health officer of Mumbai Municipal Corporation to hold a meeting of Animals and Birds Charitable Trust and other animal rights NGOs, for framing of norms and policy for licensed horse stables and carriages. The state government has been also directed to file an affidavit stating what steps will be taken regarding rehabilitation of horse carriage owners/drivers. The court also issued notice to carriage drivers/owners, seeking someone among them to represent them before the court at the next hearing after two weeks. PTI