Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde on Monday asked the people to abide by the guidelines given by the High Court on firecrackers and refrain from bursting them on public roads for a peaceful Diwali, cautioning them to be careful.
In a post on social media platform X, Tawde indicated that precautions need to be taken to prevent accidents taking place at the expense of celebrating the event.
“As Mumbai’s First Citizen, I warmly appeal to you to ensure that no accidents mar the joy of Diwali,” she wrote.
In order to keep everybody safe, the mayor encouraged the people to heed the court’s orders when bursting the firecrackers, adding that a little bit of caution would be enough to keep people safe. She also handed out the numbers of the Mumbai Fire Brigade (101), and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s civic helpline (1916), as emergency numbers.
Tawde is coming with a request in the wake of a controversy that erupted when BMC took away an anti-firecracker awareness video featuring actor Dia Mirza from its social media handles, days ago.
The civic body had reportedly approached several celebrities as part of a campaign to raise awareness in the area of pollution in accordance with directives from the Bombay High Court. But Mirza’s video was removed, which led to discussion about the campaign.
Now Tawde asked people living in the Mumbai locality to work with the police and adhere to all measures to ensure their safety, as Diwali celebrations have begun, especially public streets were to be avoided for firecracker firing.
Her message was to help keep the “happy and safe” season for everyone throughout the city.