In Nashik city, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) gathered more than 200,000 Ganapati idols and 177 tonnes of puja waste donated by devotees during the Ganapati immersion on Anant Chaturdashi. The NMC is actively promoting eco-friendly practices to prevent river pollution, encouraging devotees to donate idols to the city instead of immersing them in the Godavari river. To facilitate this, the NMC designated 80 locations throughout the city for idol immersion, including natural spots along the riverbanks and artificial ponds across six divisions. Devotees can immerse their idols in these locations after taking a dip in the river or ponds before donating them to the NMC. This year, the NMC collected an additional 5,000 idols compared to last year, totaling 79,000 idols from Panchavati and 45,000 idols from Nashik Road divisions, with the rest from Nashik East, Nashik West, Satpur, and Cidco divisions. NMC officials reported a 18% increase in puja waste collection compared to the previous year. Staff and volunteers were deployed at immersion sites to collect idols and waste from devotees.