NASHIK: Eight locations have been identified for parking lots outside the city limits by the officials of the city police, traffic police, state transport, revenue and the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for the ensuing Simhashta Kumbha Mela scheduled to be held in the city in 2015-16.

The officials have completed the primary survey in all the directions of the city. Vehicles of the pilgrims arriving for the mega religious event will be parked at the select locations zeroed by the officials concerned.

Taking into account the number of vehicles the pilgrims arrived in during the last Kumbh in 2003-04 from various parts of the country - approximately 70,000 - and a rise of at least 20 per cent vehicles in the forthcoming Mela, the total area identified for parking is 610 hectares, assistant commissioner of police Pankaj Dahane said.

Parking for vehicles coming from Mumbai has been proposed near the Jain temple at Vilholi on either side of the Mumbai-Agra national highway; for pilgrims coming from Pune and Sinnar, the parking will be at Chinchole Shivar and Moha village and parking for pilgrims coming from the Aurangabad highway will be arranged near the Odha toll naka and near Odha railway station.

Vehicles coming from Dhule and Malegaon on the Mumbai-Agra national highway will stop near Janori phata (Dahava Maeel) on either side of the highway, while vehicles coming to the city from the Dindori road will halt at the land opposite Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). For the traffic on Peth road the parking lot will be near the arch of the Nashik Municipal Corporation and for vehicles coming from Trimbak, the parking has been proposed at Jadhav Sankul on Ambad Link road. For vehicles on the Gangapur road, the parking lot has been identified at Dugaon phata.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will be deploying bus services from the parking lots into the city and drop passengers at a walking distance of about two to three km from the Ramkund bathing area of the Godavari River.

For pilgrims coming from Mumbai, the bus service will be from Vilholi to Mahamarg bus stand, while the pickup and drop for pilgrims coming from Pune has not been finalized yet. For pilgrims coming from Aurangabad road, the MSRTC will provide service from parking lots at Odha toll naka and Odha railway station to Nilgari Baug; for pilgrims from Dhule, Malegaon and other areas, the bus service will be from the parking lot at Janori phata (Dahava Maeel) till the grounds of K K Wagh College; pilgrims from Dindori road and Peth road will be dropped and picked from the Vajreshwari slum near MERI; for Trimbak road till the Golf Club grounds; and the pilgrims from Gangapur road will be dropped at Dongare grounds.

During 2003-04 Kumbh, the parking lots were situated at Vilholi naka, Shikhrewadi, near Fame Multiplex, Lamkhade Mala between Dindori Road and Peth Road, ST depot at Peth road, Gangapur village, Niligiri Baug and Eklahara, which was added later.

While there were only two parking lots - Shikrewadi and one near Fame Multiplex - which were inside the city limits during the last Kumbh, this time all parking locations have been kept outside the city limits.

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 13, 2013.