State may take the Victorian horse carriages fight to Supreme Court

Mumbaikars may soon be able to indulge in their favourite seaside pastime - riding horse carriages - without being hassled by the police.

Police taking action on a horsecart at Colaba. File pic

The state government is mulling over approaching the Supreme Court to get the ban lifted on horse carriages, more popularly known as Victorias - an iconic identity of Mumbai.

Last year, the Bombay High Court had deemed these horse-drawn carriages illegal and had instructed the state government to draw up a rehabilitation plan for the horses and their owners.

Accordingly, the government initially thought of giving them autorickshaw or taxi permits. But, the plan did not materialise owing to two technical glitches - autorickshaws don't ply in South Mumbai and badges issued by the transport department are needed to run taxi services. Later, the state government even decided to accommodate the horse owners into the hawkers' policy, but that, too, did not work. The reason for this failure was not revealed.

The state cabinet discussed the horse carriage issue on Tuesday. It was at this meeting that it was decided that if there is no relief from the HC, the state should knock on the Supreme Court's doors. "If needed, the state will put up a strong case before the apex court," said a senior official.

Recently, the BMC and the traffic police had issued notices to horse cart owners in Gorai. Following the notices, villagers from Gorai had written to the state and other authorities concerned, requesting that their means of livelihood not be affected.