The events for the festival, on till January 16, are split between two venues - the hospital campus and the college gymkhana at Marine Lines - and include dance competitions, music events, folk dances and fashion shows. It is the music programmes held in the premises that has made life a racket for patients struggling to recoup. A senior doctor told Express Newsline that the patients, being ill, are already quite irritable, and the loud music simply gets their hackles up. Lack of sleep and rest can especially harm patients who are recovering from operations and who are admitted in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit with heart problems orhypertension, he added.

``Hospitals are demarcated as silence zones for precisely these reasons, and it is surprising that the authorities are doing nothing to check this noise pollution.''

Pointed out another surgeon, while sponsors splurge lakhs of rupees on such events, few come forward to donate medicines or replace the rough coir mattresses that the patients have to sleep on.

The J J hospital dean, Dr A C Mohanty, admitted that he has been receiving complaints about patients being disturbed. ``Even post-graduate students have complained that since their exams are on, they need to study continuously,'' he said. But he added that had no role to play in this as the programme has been organised by the students' association.

However, sources said the students' association' is an unregistered body which has not been formed as per the norms of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994. The act stipulates that the Students' Council should have the principal as chairperson and teachers from various facultiesto organise the work. And, meritorious students from each class are to be nominated by the college principal to the council. The sources added that the students' association has mopped up nearly Rs 50 lakh from sponsors for the function, of which no auditing has been done.

Dr Mohanty confirmed that the association has not been formed as per the rules, adding that he is taking steps to dissolve the student body.