Ganeshotsav 2026: Panvel civic body deploys five 'Nirmalya Rath' vehicles for immersion

PMC deploys five Nirmalya Rath vehicles amid Ganesh immersion (Pic/Special arrangement)

The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday said that it has deployed five special ‘Nirmalya Rath' vehicles to collect floral and other biodegradable religious waste generated during Ganeshotsav 2026 across its municipal limits.

"The initiative comes as a part of the civic body's environment-friendly campaign, ‘Utsav Ganrayacha, Jagar Paryavaranacha', aimed at ensuring that religious offerings are collected separately and processed in an environment-friendly manner during the 10-day festival," an official statement said.

The Panvel civic body has also installed a separate ‘Nirmalya Kalash' at every designated Ganesh immersion point.

Explaining about the facilities arranged for the ongoing Ganesh festival, PMC said that devotees can use these collection points to deposit garlands, flowers, durva, shami, and other recyclable religious offerings brought along with Ganesh idols for immersion.

Panvel civic authorities deploys ‘Nirmalya Rath' vehicles

According to the civic body, the five Nirmalya Rath vehicles will cover the four municipal wards and the Navade sub-division. The vehicles will collect nirmalya generated from household celebrations as well as public Ganesh mandals on a daily basis.

The collected waste will subsequently be transported to designated nirmalya processing centres, where it will be processed using environment-friendly methods.

The initiative by the civic administration is being implemented under the guidance of PMC Mayor Nitin Patil and Municipal Commissioner Mangesh Chitale.

The civic body's Solid Waste Management Department is carrying out the measures in the direction of Deputy Commissioner Dr Vaibhav Vidhate.

The PMC has further appealed devotees to use the designated nirmalya collection facilities and avoid disposing of flowers and other religious offerings with regular waste or at immersion sites.

Panvel civic body to hold health camps at 43 locations until Nov 2

The Panvel Municipal Corporation has started organising health check-up camps at around 43 locations across its jurisdiction under the Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Lok Kalyankari Yojana, following directions from Mayor Nitin Patil.

A health check-up camp was organised at the zilla parishad school in Phanaswadi on Thursday. The camp was inaugurated by Madhu Patil, chairperson of Ward Committee B. Residents from the area attended the camp and underwent health check-ups.

The camp was held under the guidance of Municipal Commissioner Mangesh Chitale. Chief Medical Officer Dr Anand Gosavi, Tuberculosis Officer Dr Usha Rathod, Maternal and Child Health Officer Dr Ganesh Nair, Medical Officer Dr Suresh Pandit, Medical Officer Dr Bhaktaraaj Bhoite, and other civic officials and staff were present.