This stricture came in the wake of an accident in the city on February 2 wherein during a religious procession in Bhavani Peth a horse went out of control and seriously injured a five-year-old girl Saliya Shaikh who later succumbed to her injuries.

Following this the police came up with the decision to give permission to religious, traditional or marriage processions only on the condition no animals would not be used during the functions.

“We are losing our business due to this condition. The police should guide us about the precautions that should be taken for avoiding any such problem during the processions. But if the police ban the use of horses during processions, we will lose our bread and butter,” said Usman Hussain Parandekar, a representative of the Ghoda Baggi Ashwa Sanghatana , during a press conference on Saturday.

“There are about 50 persons in the city who own the business of providing horses and carts ( buggies ) for various types of functions. For maintaining one horse, we need a team of about 10 persons comprising veterinary doctor, cleaner, cart rider and others. There are about 2000 people who in the city who are dependent on this business and who might lose their source of income if the police bans horses in processions,” Parandekar said.