Kolkata: Former MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty and Deepak Mahajan, the grieving father of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, who had died after a runaway horse-carriage incident in New York, have separately urged the West Bengal urban development and municipal affairs minister, Agnimitra Paul, to fast-track the state’s reported pilot project for heritage-style electric carriages and make it the route to end horse-drawn tourist rides in Kolkata. After his personal loss, Mahajan also works for PETA India.Their appeal follows the recent death of a frail and severely dehydrated horse, who had collapsed on the city road despite attempts made by the by-standers to save the animal. The New York city council has also approved Romanch’s Law, named after Mahajan’s son, to phase out horse-drawn carriages by 2028 after more than 160 years of operations. Chakraborty, a PETA India supporter, said she was ‘deeply shaken’ by the Kolkata horse’s suffering and death. She cited in the letter that PETA India records show that since 2024 at least 19 horses in the city have allegedly died or later succumbed to road accidents and other injuries. She also referred to a 2026 case in which police registered an FIR after a horse tied to a tourist carriage collapsed on the road.“For improved cleanliness and to protect public health from zoonotic diseases like glanders wholeheartedly support the pilot project that is planned by your good Ministry and a complete and urgent transition from horse-drawn carriages to heritage-style e-carriages in Kolkata,” Chakraborty wrote, noting that Mumbai has already replaced horse-drawn carriages with Victorian-style battery-operated alternatives.For Mahajan, the appeal is personal. Romanch was riding with family members in Central Park when the horse bolted. He jumped from the carriage while trying to help his mother and succumbed to his injuries.“No parent should ever have to endure such a loss. And no family should have to wonder whether a tragedy like ours could have been prevented,” Mahajan said, adding that he is working with PETA India to help protect families and spare horses from the carriage trade.PETA India has urged the minister to permanently adopt electric carriages as a humane, safe, and livelihood-supporting replacement for the city’s horse-drawn tourist rides.
