MUMBAI, July 18: Most of Thane's 6 lakh residents were forced to stay indoors today and no, it wasn't the moody monsoon weather that played spoilsport. This time, it was the annual mayoral marathon, organised by the Shiv Sena every monsoon since 1989, which was the bane of every Thanekar intent on a Sunday evening out.``This annual tamasha put up by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is ridiculous,'' cribbed Priya Chachad, who had to make a three-km detour to pick up a toy for her son. ``I had forgotten about the marathon till a policeman rudely reminded me of it. It is like a Sena-imposed curfew,'' she told Express Newsline. ``Aren't there any other worthwhile causes to work for,'' the indignant lady asked.The 42-km marathon, which starts at Teen Hath Naka and returns after traversing all the arterial roads in the city, is organised by the ruling Sena here every year. Coordinated by former Member of Parliament, Satish Pradhan, it is also seen as a show of strength in this saffronstronghold.Residents point out that the city is shut down for an entire day, with traffic kept off the roads. ``Organising marathons is a great idea but why can't the organisers choose the outskirts of the city like the Yeoor hills area,'' wondered another resident, Santosh Pradhan. Others like Vijay Bedekar have tried to protest with dharnas in the past but have given up since neither the authorities nor the elected representatives seem to care. The actual marathon begins only at 3 pm and ends at 6 pm, leaving residents wondering why the roads are closed to traffic between 1 pm and 7 pm. ``The organisers need time to make arrangements,'' explains A Gavit, a traffic police in-charge, who has no clue as to why the organisers had got the roads closed to traffic last Sunday for a rehearsal!Mayor of Thane, Ramesh Vaithy, thinks otherwise. ``Thanekars are proud of the publicity the city gets due to the marathon. A little inconvenience is nothing to crib about,'' he says.Still, that does not mollifycivic officials miffed about being saddled with the preparations. ``The TMC ends up doing all the work for what is essentially a Sena show all the way,'' quipped one official, adding that ``the lakhs of rupees made through sponsorships and advertisements could be one of the motivating factors.Sena leader Satish Pradhan had just one thing to say: ``Nobody has any right to comment about the marathon or the way it is organised. If anyone has a problem, they should stay indoors.''
