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.In her public message on Monday, Tawde urged Mumbaikars to ensure their celebrations did not put others at risk. “Mumbaikars’ reason for celebration should not become someone else’s reason for sadness. Safety must be our priority,” she said, referring to the recent fire incidents caused by firecrackers.Citing the Bombay High Court’s directions, the mayor appealed to citizens not to burst crackers on footpaths or in public places. She also cautioned against rockets and other aerial firecrackers, saying these could stray into homes, damage property and endanger lives. She urged people to burst crackers away from residential buildings and other inhabited structures.However, her appeal invited sharp reactions from the opposition, which recalled the controversy surrounding Mirza’s video message against bursting firecrackers. The video, which was uploaded on the BMC’s social media handle, was subsequently removed. The civic body has not re-uploaded it.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. “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.“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?” Azmi said.Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh also questioned whether the objection was to Mirza’s environmental message or her identity. “BJP ko Dia Mirza ki environment appeal se problem thi, ya ek Muslim naam se? Mumbai ki safety se badi aapki nafrat hai, ab yeh bhi maan lo,” he posted on X.BJP Mumbai chief Ameet Satam avoided mention of Diwali firecracker pollution amid his multiple social media posts on Monday. He had severely censured Dia Mirza over her public plea to avoid fireworks which BMC had posted on its social media handle. BMC, however, removed the post that featured her appeal within a short while of posting it a week ago.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. 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.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. He urged the administration to investigate the fires reported across Mumbai and fix responsibility wherever negligence or enforcement failures were established. “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. Celebrate but with safety,” he said.
