'Dharma Production has to apologise, or pay fine': Goa Waste Management Minister

Goa's Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo has now demanded an apology from Dharma Production, failing which a fine for littering would be imposed
Karan Johar
Karan Johar

The controversy surrounding the alleged indiscriminate dumping of PPEs and other unsegregated garbage, by a production crew hired by Karan Johar's Dharma production, for a shoot in Goa last week, continued to brew on Wednesday.

Goa's Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo has now demanded an apology from Dharma Production, failing which a fine for littering would be imposed. "First of all, the directors or owners (of Dharma Production) should apologise to the people of Goa for doing such a thing. Tender an apology on Facebook, that it was an error and accept fault. We will fine (them) otherwise. Dharma Production will be fined by the Goa Waste Management," Lobo said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a day after Kangana Ranaut highlighted the issue on Twitter, claiming that careless dumping of garbage harms the environment, Goa-based line producer Dilip Borkar, who had been hired by the Karan Johar production firm, said that the Kangana did not know ground realities.

"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," Borkar told a press conference in Panaji on Wednesday. Asserting that there are efforts to defame them, probably because Dharma Production and Karan Johar are involved, he said, "The garbage was disposed of by a local contractor appointed by the village Panchayat every day. Only on Sunday, he failed to do so, after which the photos went viral."

The controversy erupted after photos of garbage bags indiscriminately dumped by the film production crew went viral on social media, following which the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), a government agency which oversees film-shoot related regulation, issued a show-cause notice to Borkar. The notice had said that norms of garbage disposal were not followed while disposing of non-biodegradable waste, which included PPE gear used in the film shoot.

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