The residents of three buildings near Shivaji Maidan, in Thane, are traumatised especially during Diwali, as fire cracker stalls are put up near the compound wall and if fire erupts near the stalls, the fire brigade would struggle to come for our rescue, as the lanes are narrow and occupied by the vegetable vendors.

Residents of Aradhya CHS, Patil Niwas and Jasmin Towers have complained to the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) regarding the disturbances caused during the festivals, as it give the residents, including seniors, sleepless nights.

Vasudev Abhyankar, 70, a retired civil engineer from State Transport department and a resident of Aradhya society, who lives with his 63-year-old wife, said, "Trouble for us is round the year as the ground to them is given by the civic officials without considering our problems. We suffer a lot, especially during Navratri and Diwali. We want to live in peace," said Abhyankar.

"The week-long fair with huge giant wheels and revellers continue to shout and cheer till 2am. But neither the TMC officials nor the police department looks into it, which adds our woes," added Abhyankar.

The chairperson for the society, YD Rampure, 67, said, "We have written several times to the civic officials and police officials, but we don't get any response as both netas and babus are responsible for our trauma," said Rampure.

"If a fire erupts in the power sub-station near the fire cracker stalls, it would be a tragic incident, as fire brigade would struggle to enter due to the narrow lanes. Also, the vegetable market with plastic shades would spread the fire in the society," said Rampure.

Sandeep Malvi, TMC spokesperson, said, "We take adequate steps to make sure that no nuisance is created for the residents and we have our fire brigade department to look after such issues. If at all the residents face any such problems, we will look into it."