Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar‘s company Dharma Productions has recently come under fire from environmentalists. It was alleged that during a film’s shoot with Deepika Padukone, the crew dumped waste like plastic utensils and used PPE kits in a Goan village, reports HT. A group of residents belonging to Nerul in North Goa uploaded visuals of the garbage which was dumped in their village after the film’s shooting got over last week.
Actress Kangana Ranaut retweeted a video of the alleged waste dump created, calling it the film industry’s “appalling attitude”.
Movie industry is not a virus just for the moral fibre n culture of this nation but it has become very destructive and harmful for the environment also, @PrakashJavdekar ji @moefcc see this disgusting,filthy,irresponsible behaviour by so called big production houses, pls help 🙏 https://t.co/EZfzrIWz06
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) October 27, 2020
After the issue was highlighted on social media, the state-run ESG (Entertainment Society of Goa) took notice of the matter and issued a show-cause notice to Dilip Borkar, who is the lines-producer of Dharma Productions.
ESG issued show cause notice to Karan Johar's Dharma Productions as waste generated by film crew, including PPEs, was dumped in Goan beach village of Nerul after film shooting
Bollywood celebrities who become environmentalists on Holi & Diwali, should say a few lines on this too
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) October 29, 2020
Now as per a report in TOI, Goa’s Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo announced to reporters that he would be issuing a fine notice to Karan’s Dharma Productions for the same. He stated, “Goa is a beautiful state & people come here for shooting films. Everyone is welcome to come & shoot but take your trash away & don’t leave it here. Dharma Productions will get a notice for a fine from the Goa Waste Management office. They have still not apologized yet.”
Dharma Productions will get a notice for a fine from the Goa Waste Management office. Goa is a beautiful state & people come here for shooting films. Everyone is welcome to come & shoot but take your trash away & don't leave it here: Michael Lobo, Goa Waste Management Minister pic.twitter.com/78y7By7cqc
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2020
Minister Lobo also added, “Tender an apology on Facebook that it was an error and accept the fault. If they don’t do it, we will fine them. My department will impose a fine on Dharma Productions. Whatever fine they have to pay, directions will be issued by our office. Minimum or maximum fine we will put.”
Dilip Borkar now took to Twitter to issue a statement offering an explanation. The statement reads, “In the last couple of days, there has been an outbreak of images on the social media of one particular garbage dumping site in North Goa. This site was assigned to us, by the local panchayat for the collection and disposal of the garbage. As the line producer of the film, the producer of the film entrusted me with the responsibility of waste disposal. There is a dearth of waste disposal management companies in North Goa where the shoot was being held. Due to the non-availability of private vendors I hired and paid the panchayat garbage vendors to segregate and collect the garbage generated at the shoot location.”
— Dilip Borkar (@DilipBorkar7) October 29, 2020
The statement continued, “My team diligently ensured that the dumping site was cleared every day as informed and in accordance with the procedures established by the local panchayat. Unfortunately on one particular Monday the garbage pickup truck was unable to reach the dumping site due to a breakdown. Upon receiving this information my team immediately hired another special truck and had the garbage cleared. I urge everyone to consider that we are all adapting and improvising the way we conduct our business during the COVID-19 pandemic to the best of our abilities.”
India Today reports that earlier last week on Wednesday, Karan Joar’s firm had arranged a press conference in Panaji where line producer Dilip Borkar was appointed to clarify the issue. He stated, “No one knows the ground reality. Kangana Ranaut does not know anything about what is happening here. This is wrong. She is spoiling Goa’s name.” He added, “There are efforts to defame us. We do not know why, maybe because Dharma Production is involved or Karan Johar’s name is involved.”
Their insensitive and inconsiderate attitude is absolutely appalling,film units need strict rules about women safety, modern ecological resolves, good medical facilities and food quality check for workers, we need government to assign a proper department to inspect these aspects. pic.twitter.com/B4ec6sHzNK
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) October 27, 2020
Borkar also went on to claim that the film was actually shot in a villa in Nerul. He said, “The garbage was disposed of by a local contractor appointed by the village Panchayat every day. The garbage collected daily after the shoot was dumped at a site designated by the local panchayat. It was regularly collected by the contractor except on Sunday when it kept lying there and videos of it were shot and uploaded on social media. Only on Sunday, he failed to do so, after which the photos went viral.”
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