Nashik is preparing for the next Kumbh Mela and the first instinct of the administration is not planning, not logistics, not efficiency. It is to pull out the chainsaw. Nearly 1,800 trees in Tapovan have been marked for destruction on the justification that a “Sadhu Gram” must be built there.
The irony would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic. A festival meant to purify the soul has somehow become an excuse to pollute the city’s conscience. Nashik’s preparations for the upcoming Kumbh Mela should have been about spiritual rejuvenation, cultural pride and orderly planning. Instead, they have descended into a grotesque civic ritual where […]















