Representational image
As the wedding functions of the controversial Gupta brothers' two sons began in the ski resort of Auli, authorities on Thursday said the events are being held in full compliance with the Uttarakhand High Court's orders.
"All the events are being held in full compliance with the High Court's orders and monitoring by officials of various departments," said a top Chamoli district official.
The high court on Tuesday had ordered close monitoring of the high-profile weddings in the wake of ecological concerns mainly due to the close proximity of Auli to alpine meadows.
Under the strict orders of the Uttarakhand High Court, a group of 13 officials are monitoring the functions and also videographing events at Auli.
"Since yesterday (Wednesday) we have not seen anything unusual," said Vaibhav Gupta, Joshimath Sub-Division Magistrate (SDM).
All the 13 officials are from different government departments which include forests, state pollution control board, Chamoli district administration, Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, Revenue, Public Works Department and others.
Helicopters are not being allowed to land at Auli, civil aviation officials said. The choppers carrying guests are now landing at Ravigram near Joshimath helipad from where they are being ferried to the marriage site by road.
As per the High Court's orders, only 150 guests are allowed in the function. Governor Baby Rani Maurya is also expected to join the marriage ceremony on Thursday.
In view of the controversy, some Bollywood stars expected to attend earlier may now distance themselves from the wedding.
But despite strongly defending the marriages to be held from June 19-22, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is also in a dilemma on attending the weddings.
Despite the High Court's concerns, Rawat on Tuesday had defended the marriages in Auli saying such concerns were not justifiable. During the investors summit last year, the Chief Minister said the state government had itself called for developing wedding destinations in the hill state.
"The environmental issues concerning Auli are not justifiable as it is not an alpine meadow," he had said adding that Auli is simply a tourist place where there are hotels of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and others.
"This should be seen as an investment opportunity and as an exercise to promote Uttarakhand as a wedding destination," Rawat had said.
