A hundred quintals of garbage still remains to be cleared from the ski resort of Auli after the high-profile Gupta family weddings, officials said Tuesday.
The litter is still being collected from the wedding venue three days after the event.
At least 240 quintals of garbage has been removed by the Joshimath Municipal Council already, but it may take a few days more to clear the place entirely, its chairman Shailendra Panwar told PTI.
Auli is still littered with about 100 quintals more of garbage, Panwar said.
Dozens of paryavaran mitras (environment protection volunteers) have been engaged by the council to remove the garbage, he said.
The Gupta brothers had been given a no objection certificate (NOC) by the council on the condition that they will reimburse the expenses to be incurred over the cleaning of the place.
The Gupta brothers initially gave Rs nine lakh for the purpose, promising to pay the rest of the amount when the cleaning operation is complete, Panwar said.
Two sons of the South Africa-based industrialists got married on June 20 and June 22 at the ski resort.
A number of eminent people including Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, yoga guru Ramdev , Acharya Balkrishna, Swami Chidananda Saraswati, state BJP president Ajay Bhatt attended the weddings.
Environmentalists and the Uttarkhand High Court had expressed concern over the damage the event could cause to the fragile Himalayan ecology of the region.
However, the chief minister had spoken in its favour, saying the high-profile event would promote the place as a wedding destination.
The high court had asked the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board and the district administration to assess the damage caused by the event and submit their report to the court by July 8.
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