BMC serves notice on RJ for ‘breeding mosquitoes’ after online spoof

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 19

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has served a notice on the family of Radio Jockey Malishka accusing them of “breeding mosquitoes” after she was featured in a YouTube video making fun of the civic body’s preparedness for facing the monsoons.

BMC officials said the pesticides department has issued notices to Lily Mendonsa, mother of RJ Malishka, after mosquitoes were found breeding at her house located at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra.

“The notices were issued to Mrs Mendonsa and another person after mosquitoes were found to be breeding in their houses,” an official from the civic body said.

According to Ward Officer Sharad Ughade, BMC officials inspected the sixth floor flat of the Mendonsas and found Aedes mosquitoes breeding in a clay pot inside the flat.

Subsequently, the notice was issued to the family, he said.

As per the rules, recipients of the notice have to appear before the metropolitan magistrate who will impose a fine.

The raid by BMC officials came after 93.5 Red FM, the radio channel, posted a YouTube video featuring Malishka titled ‘Mumbai Tula BMC var Bharosa nai ka?’ (Mumbai, don’t you have faith on BMC?).

The video was shared multiple times and Ashish Shelar, chief of the Mumbai unit of the BJP commended the RJ for the clip drawing the ire of the Shiv Sena which controls the civic body.

Several Shiv Sena leaders wrote to Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta urging him to file a Rs 500 crore defamation suit against RJ Malishka and the radio channel for the video.

“The video makes fun of the BMC and its workers who are working hard to keep Mumbai clean. We would like the BMC to file a defamation suit against Malishka,”

Shiv Sena corporator Kishori Pednekar told reporters here.

The corporator however denied that BMC officials raided the RJ’s flat out of vindictiveness.