A controversy over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Diwali pollution campaign intensified on Monday after the civic body removed actor Dia Mirza’s video from its social media accounts following objections from BJP Mumbai chief Ameet Satam.
Mirza’s video advocated pollution-free festivities as part of the BMC’s eco-friendly Diwali campaign. The clip was taken down on Sunday, while campaign videos featuring actors Madhuri Dixit and Nishigandha Wad, and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, remained available on the civic body’s X and Instagram accounts, according to a report by PTI published in Deccan Chronicle.
The BMC’s post accompanying Mirza’s video had said that, in accordance with the Bombay High Court’s directives, bursting firecrackers on public roads, lanes and footpaths was strictly prohibited. The report did not specify whether the civic body had issued a separate explanation for removing the video.
The removal followed a post by Satam on X, in which he objected to Mirza’s participation in the campaign. “We don’t need lessons on how to celebrate #Diwali from @deespeak. Our traditions are deeply rooted in our culture,” he wrote while tagging the BMC’s official account.
Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane later questioned whether environmental concerns were being applied selectively to Hindu festivals. Speaking to reporters, he asked whether Diwali and Holi alone caused environmental damage and said he would raise the issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis if the BMC was encouraging such messaging.
Rane also made claims about environmental and sanitation concerns during other religious occasions. Those remarks were reported as part of his criticism of the BMC campaign and were not accompanied in the supplied report by supporting civic data or official comparisons between festivals.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale also criticised Mirza’s video while saying that pollution should be avoided. “There will be no meaning to Diwali if people do not burst firecrackers. There should not be any pollution. It was inappropriate for Dia Mirza to issue such statements and hurt the sentiments of Hindus,” he told reporters.
The dispute places the BMC’s public messaging alongside the enforcement of court-linked restrictions on firecracker use in public spaces. Roads, lanes and footpaths are civic areas where firecracker activity can affect pedestrian movement, traffic operations, noise levels and local air quality, making the wording and communication of restrictions an administrative issue as well as a cultural one.
The supplied report does not state whether the BMC plans to restore Mirza’s video, revise the campaign or issue a formal clarification. It also does not provide air-quality readings, enforcement figures or details of penalties connected with the court directives. The immediate next step remains the civic body’s response to the objections and its handling of the remaining Diwali campaign material.
