NMC Will Build Tapovan Sadhugram Without Cutting Trees as NGT Stay Holds

Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) will go ahead with the Sadhugram at Tapovan without cutting trees, municipal commissioner Manisha Khatri said. The Times of India reported this on 15 October 2026. Sadhugram is the area where sadhus and akhadas stay during the Kumbh.

Khatri told TOI: "We have decided to develop the proposed Sadhugram at Tapovan without cutting the trees as the NGT's stay on tree felling continues. If the stay is not lifted, the project will be executed within the existing constraints. We will fully comply with the court's directions."

Why this matters

• NMC had earlier proposed felling about 1,700 trees at Tapovan for the site, TOI says. It got around 600 objections, and public hearings were held in November 2025.
• Pune lawyer Shriram Pingle challenged the plan before the NGT Western Zone Bench in Pune. On 12 December 2025 the tribunal stayed tree felling at Tapovan. The stay is still in force.
• NMC will not wait for the case to end. It will change the layout and services plan to keep the existing trees.
• Navbharat Live reported that NMC will write to the NGT with the new proposal to use the available open land.

What is not known yet

• NMC has not published the revised layout. It has not said whether the change affects cost, capacity or the timeline.
• The earlier plan was to grow Sadhugram toward about 1,400 acres, with land leased from farmers around Nandur and Manur. See slow Sadhugram land work.

Figures that do not match

• Number of trees: TOI says NMC proposed felling about 1,700 trees. Navbharat Live's headline speaks of relief for about 17,000 trees at Tapovan, which may mean the total tree cover rather than the trees marked for felling. We use TOI's 1,700 for the felling proposal.
• Hearing date: TOI says the next hearing is in the first week of December. Navbharat Live gives 9 December. Treat the exact date as reported.

Related: NMC water reservation for the Kumbh, Kumbh dates.