By Anurjay Dhal
BHUBANESWAR: Former Union Minister Dilip Ray was on Sunday tendered an apology for the unfortunate incident happened during a wedding ceremony at Hotel Mayfair Lagoon’s Gopalpur resort in southern district of Ganjam on July 2.
In a post in social media site Facebook, Ray, one of the best Hotelier of India, said the incident of COVID guidelines violation during a wedding party at #MAYFAIR_Gopalpur on 2nd July “was very unfortunate and shouldn’t have happened,”.
“I personally apologize for it while welcoming the action taken for the violation of the guidelines. Precautionary measures like social distancing are the only potent weapon to fight this pandemic and there can be no compromise on it. I myself have time and again emphasised its importance through social media and other channels. Even a detailed SOP in this regard has been devised for our Hotel operations- attaching highest standards of priority to safety and hygiene,” the former Union Minister wrote.
“The very fact that places of religious worship continue to remain closed and even Rath Yatra- the most important religious festival of Odisha had to be conducted without devotees speaks volumes about the gravity of the situation,” he said.
“As an Odisha born Brand, MAYFAIR has always attached great importance to Odia Culture, literature, customs and cuisines and it has always been our constant endeavour to promote them pan India through our properties. An incident like this which goes against our State policies and priorities is the last thing I can imagine and I once again apologize for it. In the face of this incident, the Management has been directed to further upgrade the COVID-19 specific Standard Operating Procedures and strictly ensure that no such incident is repeated,” Ray added.
Earlier on Saturday, Taking to Twitter, Ganjam Collector & District Magistrate, had informed about the sealing of Hotel Mayfair Gopalpur for violation of social distancing for arrangement of marriage. The district Collector made it clear that such violations will not be tolerated and urged all to follow social distancing norms to keep COVID-19 infection at bay.
The district administration’s whip came after hundreds of people, who were part of the marriage procession, were spotted dancing without wearing masks and also violating the social distancing norms on Thursday.
A video of the entire incident has gone viral on social media. In the video, hundreds of marriage revellers were caught on camera shaking legs close to each other, thus violating the social distancing norms.
Taking note of the issue, the district administration imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 and lodged complaints against both parties. Later , the police arrested the groom, his father, and three of his uncles. Besides, the car, in which the groom was taken to the marriage venue, has also been impounded by the Regional Transport Office.
