Mumbai: Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde’s appeal to citizens to burst firecrackers responsibly, following a spate of fire incidents over the past two days, has drawn criticism from opposition leaders, who have questioned the apparent contradiction between her latest message and her earlier objection to actor Dia Mirza ’s similar appeal.
He urged the administration to investigate the fires reported across Mumbai and fix responsibility wherever negligence or enforcement failures were established.
Safety must be our priority,” she said, referring to the recent fire incidents caused by firecrackers. “Mirza, in her video appeal posted on the BMC’s social media handle, had also said the same thing. However, back then, the mayor came out objecting to it, and the BMC has yet to upload her message on its handle,” Pathan said. Congress corporator Ashraf Azmi said the opposition had repeatedly questioned both the BMC administration and the BJP over their objections to Mirza’s message but had received vague explanations. Azmi said. Agnihotri said errant rockets were a fire hazard rather than a matter of cultural pride, adding that the mayor’s appeal had come a little late and would mean little without strict enforcement. Celebrate but with safety,” he said.
“Mumbaikars’ reason for celebration should not become someone else’s reason for sadness. AIMIM leader and spokesperson Waris Pathan took a swipe at the mayor, pointing out that Mirza had conveyed a similar message in the video appeal BMC asked her to make. “We kept asking the BMC authorities as well as the ruling BJP what the issue was with Mirza’s message. All she was doing was appealing to people not to burst crackers. Now, the mayor herself comes out after Diwali is over and gives the same message. So what was wrong with the actor’s appeal, we should assume? Meanwhile, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, responding to Tawde’s appeal on X, shared his own experience of an errant rocket setting fire to a sofa on his balcony the previous night. “Thankfully, our dogs alerted us in time, and the fire-resistant fabric helped prevent a potentially serious accident. We had always feared something like this could happen. This time, we were lucky, but what about other victims?” he wrote. He also called for accountability beyond those bursting crackers, saying authorities responsible for awareness campaigns, enforcement of court orders and fire safety should also be held answerable. “Who doesn’t love celebrating Diwali? But errant rockets are not a cultural pride, they are a fire hazard. Our great culture doesn’t permit us to put innocent lives, homes and property at risk.Your appeal may have come a little late, but it will mean little without strict enforcement. More importantly, accountability must not end with those bursting crackers. Those responsible for creating awareness, enforcing court orders, ensuring fire safety and preventing such violations must also be held accountable,” he posted. Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson and secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), too, criticised the BJP and the mayor for allegedly turning a safety message into a communal issue by targeting Mirza. “High Court had asked celebrities to caution citizens for their safety, but BJP and Mayor Ritu Tawde made a communal issue of the safety message by individually targeting Dia Mirza.
In her public message on Monday, Tawde urged Mumbaikars to ensure their celebrations did not put others at risk.