Mumbai: Holi revellers in eastern suburbs ignore BMC warning

Scene at a Mulund society on Monday morning

Citizens in the eastern suburbs, too, stepped out to play Holi on Monday ignoring instructions from the BMC amid an explosion in COVID cases in the city. Though the celebrations were a bit muted compared to earlier years, groups of people coated with colours were seen loitering around in the morning with minimal police presence. A number of them were also spotted on bikes.

The BMC had announced last week that Holi celebrations would not be allowed at private and public places in the city. Most of the revellers were without masks and did not maintain social distancing. "I complained about people playing Holi in my society and they were all over the place. There were colours and balloons too and it was like every other year," said a resident of Mulund West society.

A mid-day reader on condition of anonymity said despite lodging a complaint and a reminder on a landline number shared by the police, no action was taken, and the celebrations continued for over four hours. A number of youths had gathered on the streets in Mulund East too. While they were rounded up for some time, they were back at it after cops left the spot.

A number of societies celebrated Holi on their premises. The police bust one such event at Sai Dham Society in Ghatkopar East following a complaint on Twitter. The complaint said the society members had set up a giant water tub and were having fun. The Mumbai police sent a team to the spot. "Police and civic authorities would not be sufficient everywhere. It is no point blaming the government if we citizens behave like this. We need to be more mature," another resident said.