Rain Forecast Grounds the Helicopters: President Murmu to Travel by Road to Ramkund and Trimbakeshwar, 71 Panchavati Schools Shut on 31 October, Godaghat Shops Closed

Weather may change how the President moves on Saturday. REPORTED: everything below is from newspapers. Rashtrapati Bhavan has not published the President's programme.

This is a follow-up to our 28 October story, Ramkund no general entry on 31 October and the President's day plan, which described a helicopter plan.

By road instead of helicopter

• Old plan: helicopter from Nashik (Ozar) airport to the Maharashtra Police Academy, then from the Academy to Trimbakeshwar and back (Sakal).
• What changed: the weather department has forecast rain in Nashik and other districts from 29 to 31 October because of Cyclone Arnab in the Bay of Bengal. Security agencies have barred helicopter use, so the President will travel by car from the airport to the city and from Nashik to Trimbakeshwar, Sakal and Sarkarnama report, citing sources. Sakal says this is "almost certain".
• Pudhari calls it a likely change: cloud and low visibility are forecast for the afternoon of 31 October, and the road route via the Nashik to Trimbakeshwar highway is being prepared as a green corridor, with extra police on the route.
• What it means for you: expect longer convoy closures on the Ozar to Nashik route and on the Nashik to Trimbak road on 31 October. The regular Nashik to Trimbak road is already shut from 8 AM on 30 October to 8 PM on 31 October. See the road closure and Girnare detour.
• Sarkarnama now gives about 15 minutes of puja in the Trimbakeshwar temple and 13 minutes at Kushavarta. Our earlier story said 12 minutes at Kushavarta.

Schools and shops

• Schools: the Nashik Municipal Corporation has told 71 schools in the Ramkund-Panchavati belt to stay shut on Saturday 31 October (Times of India, ETV Bharat). Roads around Malegaon Stand, Nimani and Panchavati Karanja will be closed. Schools outside the zone decide for themselves.
• Shops: all shops on the Godaghat are to stay closed on 30 and 31 October (ETV Bharat).

Guests and the programme

• 1,317 VIPs have been invited, including akhada heads, Purohit Sangh office-bearers, ministers, MPs and MLAs (ETV Bharat).
• Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and Shringeri Shankaracharya Vidhushekhara Bharati are expected (ETV Bharat).
• 1 November: puja, havan and pillar puja in the presence of the Shringeri Shankaracharya, according to Purohit Sangh president Chandrashekhar Panchakshari (ETV Bharat).

Sources differ

• Road travel: Sakal and Sarkarnama report the helicopter ban as decided. Pudhari and Maharashtra Mirror describe it as a likely change. Treat it as not final.
• Number of schools: Sakal (28 October) listed 35 schools in the education department's first order. Later reports (Times of India, ETV Bharat, Lokshahi) say 71.
• Crowd size at Ramkund: Lokshahi (29 October) expects 15,000 to 20,000 devotees. Our 28 October story cited a police estimate of 80,000 to 1 lakh.

For Trimbak darshan rules, see temple and Kushavarta closed to outside devotees. For everything else, see the Dhwajarohan 2026 hub.