India is known for its big and fat wedding celebrations. But recently, the one that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons is the one hosted by the NRI Gupta family. The sons of South Africa-based businessmen Ajay and Atul Gupta tied the knot in picturesque Auli, Uttarakhand between June 18 and 22.
It was organised with a massive budget of Rs.200 crores! Many B-town celebrities like Katrina Kaif and Siddharth Malhotra were in attendance at the event.
Sonapie on the biggest wedding of auli uttarakhand 😍😍❤#SurbhiJyoti pic.twitter.com/eevcFfHbVG
— Surbhijyoti_Kavya❤ (@Kavya83052593) June 21, 2019
However, the high-profile wedding resulted in 4000 kgs of waste in the form of plastic bags, leftover petals, foam and food. The family faced severe backlash for destroying the natural beauty of the Himalayan ski resort.
Family to pay entire cost for waste disposal in Uttarakhand’s Auli post wedding functionshttps://t.co/3YLq5QAN89 pic.twitter.com/PUrtUHe14T
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) June 25, 2019
According to Business Insider, a PIL was also filed regarding the incident. Subsequently, the Uttarakhand High Court has asked the District Administration and the Pollution Control Board to furnish a report of the damages by 7 July.
Auli: A team of 20 members along with a supervisor of Joshimath Municipal Corporation continues cleaning up garbage & waste left behind after the Rs 200 cr wedding ceremony of members of the Gupta family of South Africa held at the hill station between 18 to 22 June. #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/qb7u1qbx8P
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2019
Financial Express quoted municipality president Shailendra Panwar saying,
“The Gupta family had deposited Rs. 54,000 as user charge. Over 150 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 civic body.”
Do you think the Gupta family should be let off the hook by paying the cleanup bill while the Municipal Corporation does all the actual work? Or is it too little, too late?