Nitin Desai, Mumbai’s ace art designer is putting the finishing touches to his 1,200 sq. feet long stage, for the Art of Living (AOL) event, the World Culture Festival to begin tomorrow and go on till March 13 in the capital. Desai is in Delhi, and in the distance, he can see the Yamuna, flowing quietly along. The river became the focus of a huge controversy with spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s mammoth event being fiercely opposed by environmentalists who believe the site of the festival, and the infrastructure set up for it, near the banks of the river Yamuna spells ecological disaster for the region. On Wednesday evening, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) did not stay the festival but slapped an initial fine of R5 crore on the AOL. The AOL has to pay the amount as “environmental compensation.” The AOL then released a statement saying it had not committed any violations and will appeal against the fine.

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