Very soon citizens of Thane would experience chocking of roads, arteries of their daily communication by hooligans dressed in political attire. This is happening for last few years and no civic authorities, be it Police or Corporation, are able to stop this menace. Rather we see them helping and witnessing the events with calmness. Many political leaders and celebrities also exhibit their solidarity to such events by their presence, hoping to extract some mileage in publicity. All this is happening in the name of Culture. We Indians are celebrating our festivals like Dahi Handi, Ganesh chaturthy, Navaratra etc. for many millennia now. Such occasions, apart from being recreative, have helped strengthen family and community ties. They always were voluntary, and never imposed on individual or society. They gave relief from daily stressful life and were always a happy and pleasant experience, unlike today. Today we shiver with the idea of their arrival. They not only disrupt but dysfunction all our daily life. We see every discipline of civic life butchered making concept of rule of law irrelevant. Why is this happening? Who are responsible for this decay? Answers are easy and difficult, both. Easy because we know the responsible people, and difficult because we also know, that agencies responsible to protect us/society from such hazards, are corrupt to the core. Political parties and their leaders, instead of being facilitators of social education and change by setting an example by self, are immersed in populist sloganeering, breaking every rule of civic society. There are financial incentives created by dubious means. Contributions are collected from business community by force. The source of funding such expensive shows is never scrutinized by competent authorities. Such convenient ignorance or charity by them is highly suggestive of tacit sharing of booty. Hard working common man or businessman never experiences such charity from them. The media looks upon such events as a revenue generating opportunity, supporting and covering such events with maximum hype, disregarding and ignoring the inconvenience caused to people. Paymaster is more important to them than loyal reader. Common man is helpless and meek to resist. His helplessness is taken as his weakness. We need to raise our voice collectively and democratically. This petition is a step in that direction. We plead following to competent authorities: a) Corporation and Police should not grant permission to erect mandaps, stage or held such gatherings on roads. It is the rite of the people to use roads for the purpose for which they are built. b) Such events can take place on public grounds or stadiums not in the vicinity of silence zone. c) Noise pollution rules should be strictly observed and competent authorities should implement them in letter and spirit. d) Tax and audit authorities should scrutinize all accounts of such bodies and they should be displayed on web site. Inaction of law abiding citizens is more dangerous than crimes of criminals. I request you to sign this petition. Dr.Mahesh Vijay Bedekar [email protected]