Mumbai: For about a week now, local activists and residents in Maharashtra’s Pune have been demanding a ban on use of DJs and loudspeakers during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. They have now been joined by leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who have urged devotees to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to senior citizens, or those with serious health conditions.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni said Monday that she was opposed to the use of loudspeakers from the very beginning. “I believe that Hindutva should not get polluted and celebrations should not be vulgar. By playing loud music on DJs, playing vulgar songs, making ugly gestures, this is not how festivals should be celebrated,” she said.
“There are many Ganesh mandals (organisers) who celebrate the festival with divinity and purity. Others should follow their example,” Kulkarni said, adding that many local residents in Pune have complained about the disturbance caused by use of loud music and LEDs during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. “Be it during practice in the months prior to the festival or during the festival, citizens are suffering because of this. In fact, the Ganesh mandals should use their platform to enlighten the society via social programmes,” the BJP legislator told media persons.
BJP MLA from Pune’s Kothrud, Chandrakant Patil, had made a similar appeal the previous day. “Let us celebrate Ganeshotsav in a devotional and disciplined manner, avoiding the overuse of DJs and laser beams while upholding respect for the law. While keeping the joy of the festival uninterrupted, let us take care that no inconvenience is caused to senior citizens, young children, and patients,” he wrote.
आरोग्यदायी आणि भक्तिमय गणेशोत्सवासाठी पुणेकरांना आवाहन!
गणेशोत्सवाचे पावित्र्य, भक्तिभाव आणि सामाजिक जाणीव जपत नागरिकांच्या आरोग्याची काळजी घेणे आवश्यक आहे. याच भावनेतून पुणेकरांना एका पत्राद्वारे माझे आवाहन केले आहे.
डीजे आणि लेझर बीमचा अतिवापर टाळून कायद्याचा सन्मान राखत,…
— Chandrakant Patil (@ChDadaPatil) August 30, 2026
On 28 August, Union minister and BJP MP from Pune, Murlidhar Mohol, had also endorsed the demand to regulate use of DJs and loudspeakers during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. “Pune has a 130-year-old tradition of celebrating Ganesh festival. So we have to celebrate it by following all rules and guidelines. This is the people’s festival and we have to make sure how to increase their participation and not have loud music or plasma, LED lights that will hurt them,” he had said.
Mohol, who was Pune Mayor from November 2019 to March 2022, said Ganesh mandals should limit themselves to court-issued guidelines in this regard, adding that there should, however, be no ban on use of dhol-tasha, which has been traditionally used during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
On Sunday, hundreds gathered near Pune’s Goodluck Cafe Chowk to demand a ban on the use of loudspeakers and DJ during the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations set to begin on 14 September. “These high-decibel music systems being used for the past few years are making us ill. We leave the city for two to three days during the Ganesh immersion processions. We want a complete ban on the use of DJ sound systems,” said one protester, as quoted by news agency PTI.
Another said the protest was not directed at any particular religion, but against excessive noise and use of high decibel speakers, calling it “unbearable”.
The protesters found a supporter in BJP MP Tejasvi Surya who shared a video of the protest on X and wrote: “It is encouraging to see citizens across India’s cities take to the streets for clean air, less noise and protection of green spaces. This growing civic activism will push political leaders to make quality of life a priority.”
Good job, Pune!
It is encouraging to see citizens across India’s cities take to the streets for clean air, less noise and protection of green spaces.
This growing civic activism will push political leaders to make quality of life a priority.
The next 25 years are crucial.… https://t.co/M8VJzINgD0
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) August 30, 2026
Many Ganesh mandal representatives in Pune, however, saw this as selective outrage, with one telling PTI: “The Mutha river is polluted, but who is raising the issue? They only want to target Ganesh Mandals.”
At the same time, some Ganesh mandals have endorsed the ban, committing to follow guidelines with respect to the use of loudspeakers.
Last week, during a special meeting on Ganesh Chaturthi preparations at the Pune Municipal Corporation, one Vidyananad Bapat—a resident of Narayan Peth—had raised the issue of excessive use of DJs and loudspeakers at Ganesh pandals. Bapat was later escorted out of the meeting by civic body officials following a heated debate with Ganesh mandal representatives.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)