Somya Lakhani: Auli stares at mountain of waste after Gupta weddings

By Dilip -
In the midst of two opulent wedding stages, a glasshouse with flowers from Switzerland, and snow-peaked mountains in the backdrop in Uttarakhand’s Auli, all that Anil Kumar has looked at is waste – petals, plastic covers, foam, and leftover food. He’s one of the two supervisors of the Nagar Palika Parishad of Joshimath, manning a team of 20 men responsible for keeping the Rs 200 crore wedding venue at the alpine meadow clean.

“Usually, dry and wet waste collected daily from all of Joshimath amounts to 20 quintal. Since the weddings, it’s crossed 40 quintal daily. Most of it is from the wedding venue,” said Parishad chairman Shailendra Singh Pawar. The weddings in question are of Suryakant and Shashank – members of the controversial Gupta family of South Africa, known for their dubious links to that country’s former president, Jacob Zuma, and who are facing corruption charges. Suryakant got married on Thursday, while Shashank’s wedding was on Saturday.

A few kilometres from Auli is village Ravigram, where a huge portion of land has been turned into a temporary helipad. Following Suryakant’s marriage, the Guptas left for Badrinath on Friday morning via choppers that took off and landed every few minutes. Keeping Auli clean during the weddings has been an uphill task. Pawar has deployed 20 workers, two supervisors, one junior engineer at the wedding venue in Auli, and an additional 10 workers across Auli till June 30... read more:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/auli-stares-at-mountain-of-waste-after-gupta-weddings-5795145/

see also

Book Review: The Republic of Gupta - post-apartheid South Africa
South Africa: How Gupta-linked firm scored big by connecting officials and consultants

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