Gupta weddings over, Auli stares at mounds of waste to be cleaned up

Nearly 235 quintals of waste have already been cleaned up by the municipality workers and an equal amount is left to be collected from the wedding venue of the two sons of controversial South African businessmen Ajay Gupta and Atul Gupta.

Auli (Uttarakhand): With the 200 crore weddings of the two sons of controversial South African businessmen Ajay Gupta and Atul Gupta coming to an end, the picturesque hill station of Auli in Uttarakhand is now staring at quintals of waste to be picked up and cleaned.

Nearly 235 quintals of waste have already been picked up by the municipality workers and an equal amount is left to be collected from the wedding venue.

The Municipality has deployed 20 workers to clear the waste lying around in the area and segregate them into dry and wet waste.

"The Gupta family had deposited Rs 54,000 as user charge. Over 235 quintal waste has been cleaned up till now. After the cleaning work is complete the total bill of all the expenses, including manual labour and vehicles, will be sent to them. The family has agreed to pay the entire bill and also provide a vehicle to the Municipality," said Shailendra Panwar, Municipality President.

The locals, however, seem displeased with the progress made so far by the municipality and demand faster cleaning up of the area.
"We have been opposing the Gupta wedding since we came to know about it. We are still cleaning up after the Gupta's, several quintals of waste is still lying around the wedding venue. The state and district administration has failed in holding anybody accountable, " said Ramesh Satti, a local resident of Auli.

With the monsoon season fast approaching Uttarakhand, the waste lying around on the hill-top is most likely to get washed away into the river system.

"It will start raining in a few days and all the waste will we washed away and eventually get drained into the Alaknanda river, leaving the river polluted. We had warned the administration earlier about this but to no avail," said a visibly upset Satti.

The wedding celebrations of Suryakant, son of Ajay Gupta, took place in Auli from June 18 to 20, while the marriage of Atul Gupta's son Shashank was held from June 20 to 22.

Earlier, a PIL was filed stating the extensive wedding preparations were damaging the environment.

Many celebrities, including chief ministers, B-Town stars like Katrina Kaif, yoga guru Baba Ramdev had attended the wedding. Ramdev also conducted a two-hour yoga session at the wedding. Choppers were hired to ferry the guests.

Almost all the hotels and resorts were booked and flowers were imported from Switzerland for the two high-profile marriages.