PUNE, Sept. 9 -- In a first for Maharashtra, Solapur city held this year's Ganesh immersion procession without a single DJ sound system or laser light, marking a major shift in how festivals are celebrated. The streets came alive, instead, with beats of lezim and dhol-tasha as Solapur initiated the state's first 100% DJ-free Ganesh immersion. The DJ-free campaign was born not out of convenience but tragedy. Earlier during the Shiv Jayanti procession in February this year, Raju Yadgirikar, 58, of Salgar Vasti requested the organisers to lower the volume for the sake of his ailing mother, 80, only to be humiliated and forced to sit beside the blaring system which left him permanently deaf. During another procession in August this year, Abhishek Birajdar, 27, collapsed and died of a heart attack while dancing to loud DJ beats at Ramlal Chowk. Recalling the tragedy, Dr Shrikant Patil, a cardiologist from a private hospital in Solapur, said, "When Abhishek was brought in, he had already suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts, we could not revive him. The combination of extreme noise levels, physical exertion, and stress created a fatal trigger. " The mishaps forced a group of people to come together and launch what they named the 'DJ-free Solapur Action Committee'. Advocate Dhananjay Mane, unanimously chosen as president of the action committee, said, "These tragedies shook Solapur's conscience. For years, people suffered in silence. On August 7, 2025, a group of citizens resolved to act and on August 12, we formally launched the DJ-Free Solapur Action Committee. Doctors, senior citizens, students, and ordinary citizens joined hands." The campaign gained momentum when senior citizens and doctors took to the streets. On August 20 this year, over 300 senior citizens representing 22 organisations marched from the Government rest house to the collector's office, rain notwithstanding, demanding a DJ-free Ganeshotsav. Drawing inspiration from them, 538 doctors on August 25 marched from the officers' club to police commissioner's office with the Indian Medical Association (IMA); National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA); and groups from homeopathy, physiotherapy and Ayurveda; hospital associations; and medical colleges joining hands in a show of solidarity. Immersion day on September 6 was a culmination of these efforts when domestic immersions began peacefully even as the civic body and police administration coordinated the main immersion procession. By evening, seven central mandals began their immersion processions. The DJs were replaced by over 125 to 130 lezim pathaks and over 40 dhol-zhanj groups as traditional beats and chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya took the place of blaring speakers....