Bhopal, Aug 20 - The centuries old tradition of villagers stoning each other during the annual Gotmar festival in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district will come to a halt this year with the state's human rights commission banning the practice that claimed a man's life last year and left over 400 injured.

Describing the tradition of stone throwing as 'inhuman and criminal', the Madhya Pradesh Human Right Commission (MPHRC) has directed the district administration not to allow it henceforth.

'We will fully cooperate in the organisation and celebration of the festival but stone throwing will not be allowed at any cost this year,' Chhindwara district collector Nikunj Srivastava told IANS on phone.

The Gotmar festival is celebrated every year on the day after the new moon in Bhadrapad month of the Hindu calendar. This year, it will be celebrated Aug 21.

During the festival, men from Pandhurna and Sawargaon villages, located on opposite banks of the river Jamna in Chhindwara district, about 400 km from here, hurl stones at each other.

The members of both the teams also vie with each other to chop down a tree planted every year in the middle of the river. The group which manages to chop down the tree and remove the flag on top of it is declared the winner.