Gupta weddings over, Auli stares at quintals of waste

Dehradun, June 24 (IANS) Uttarakhand's Joshimath Municipality is faced with an uphill task of clearing quintals of garbage left behind after the high-profile Gupta family weddings last week at Auli.

Over 220 quintal waste had been collected from the wedding site between Sunday and Monday noon with the Municipality pressing in 7-8 trucks for the purpose, top government officials said. The Municipality officials said they would be able to completely clean the site by June 30.

S.P. Nautiyal, Executive Officer of the Joshimath Muncipality said the garbage being collected from the wedding site was being transported in trucks to private contractors in Haridwar for final disposal. "One truck of garbage is being sold to the contractors for Rs 50,000-Rs 70,000 depending upon the type of waste," he said.

The municipality has not reported any environmental damage during the wedding extravaganza. Joshimath Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Vaibav Gupta said he did not come across any controversies either during the wedding.

The Gupta family had already deposited Rs 3 crore with the Chamoli district authorities as per a Nainital High Court order.

Following the High Court order, a team of 13 officials monitored and videographed the wedding functions at Auli. The team included officials from the Forest Department, State Pollution Control Board, Chamoli District Administration, Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, Revenue Department and the Public Works Department.

Since the court barred helicopters from Auli, the choppers landed at Ravigram near Joshimath helipad from where the guests were ferried to the wedding venue by cars.

The court also fixed the numbers of guests at 150. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Baba Ramdev were among the VIPs who blessed the newly-weds. A bevy of Bollywood stars, including Katrina Kaif, performed at the wedding.