Nashik waste collection rose by 1,050 tonnes during the seven-day Diwali period, prompting the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to deploy additional vehicles and conduct extra cleaning rounds across the city’s markets and neighbourhoods.
The increase was recorded between Vasu Baras on November 5 and Bhaubeej on November 11. According to NMC officials, daily garbage collection climbed from the usual 800 tonnes to about 950 tonnes during the festive period.
The civic body used its regular fleet of more than 400 garbage collection vehicles and added 12 vans to manage the increase. The additional vehicles operated during both day and night shifts, with a particular focus on commercial areas that experienced heavier footfall during Diwali shopping and celebrations.
An NMC official attributed the rise to several types of festive waste. Large-scale cleaning of homes and commercial establishments before Diwali contributed to the increase, while packaging from gifts, sweets and festival purchases added to the daily load. Firecracker waste also formed part of the additional garbage generated during the period.
The corporation carried out a special ward-level cleanliness drive across all 31 wards in Nashik’s six administrative divisions. Officials said the higher collection figures also reflected the removal of accumulated waste from residential and commercial localities during the campaign.
Busy market areas, including Raviwar Karanja, Shalimar, Main Road and MG Road, were cleaned twice a day during the festive period. Markets in Nashik Road also received additional cleaning because of the increased movement of shoppers and visitors.
All waste collected during the period was transported to the NMC’s composting facility at Pathardi on the city’s outskirts. The civic body’s response relied on a door-to-door collection and transportation network operated through four contractors appointed in December 2022.
The additional waste collected this year exceeded the levels recorded during the corresponding festive periods in the previous two years. NMC collected around 900 tonnes of additional waste last year, when average daily waste generation was approximately 770 tonnes. In 2024, the additional collection stood at 884 tonnes against average daily generation of about 730 tonnes.
The figures show both the seasonal pressure placed on Nashik’s waste system and the scale of the collection network now available to the civic body. Before the current contracts came into effect, NMC operated around 250 garbage collection vehicles. It later added nearly 150 vehicles, including smaller vans, taking the fleet to about 400 vehicles.
The additional vans and repeated market clean-ups were deployed as a short-term response to the festive surge. NMC’s next operational requirement will be to transport and process the increased volume through the Pathardi facility while maintaining routine door-to-door collection across the city.
