Nashik : Moving beyond traditional celebratory themes, eight Ganeshotsav mandals across Old Nashik have aligned their festival displays to spotlight the worsening civic infrastructure and socioeconomic decline of the city’s historic core. The collective initiative uses social tableaux to draw public and administrative attention toward long-standing issues affecting residents in the Gaothan area.
Furthermore, while the state government allocated Rs33,000 crore for the upcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela 2027, diverting even one percent of those funds to Old Nashik would secure essential infrastructure, road widening, and drainage modernisation. Community leaders have already submitted a detailed memorandum to the mayor and city administration outlining an 11-point demand framework.
“Old Nashik is the birthplace of the city, yet the area is completely neglected today,” said Nandan Bhaskare, President of Old Nashik Pratishthan. Key demands include ensuring in-situ rehabilitation for original residents, establishing a dedicated traffic and parking plan for major commercial hubs like Bhadrakali, Saraf Bazaar, Shalimar, and Ravivar Karanja, and balancing heritage conservation with modern infrastructure upgrades,” said Bhaskare. “We are demanding a dedicated special redevelopment policy, double FSI, and cluster redevelopment to revitalize the Gaothan belt. A major focus of the representation is the immediate safety risk at Kazi Garhi, where vulnerable slopes face ongoing landslide threats during every monsoon season, endangering hundreds of resident families. “We urge the administration to establish a high-level committee comprising urban planning, engineering, heritage, and disaster management experts to execute a time-bound action plan. The eight participating mandals have finalised their street displays and banners to press for a formal resolution in the Nashik Municipal Corporation general body meeting, ensuring the long-standing demands of Old Nashik residents translate into binding policy decisions.