Saptashrungi Gad in Nashik district will have 42 medical officers, 80 health workers, six mobile health teams and six ambulances on standby as lakhs of devotees arrive for the nine-day Navaratra festival, according to the zilla parishad health department.
The medical deployment has been arranged across key locations on the Gad to provide immediate treatment for dehydration, dizziness, exhaustion, gastroenteritis, fever and minor injuries. Officials said these conditions typically rise during periods of heavy footfall at the pilgrimage site.
The six mobile health units will support teams stationed at the site, while the ambulances will be used for rapid emergency response and for transporting critical patients to higher medical facilities when required. Taluka health officer Dr Abhay Bangal will supervise the arrangements, with Pravin Bairagi, medical officer at the Nanduri primary health centre, coordinating the healthcare teams on the ground.
The preparations extend beyond emergency treatment. District health officials inspected water purification plants and checked drinking water quality on October 9 as part of measures to prevent disease outbreaks during the festival. Authorities have also initiated epidemic-control measures ahead of the expected influx from Maharashtra and neighbouring states.
The scale of the arrangements reflects the pressure that short-duration religious gatherings can place on local health and civic infrastructure. A large increase in visitors requires authorities to coordinate emergency care, drinking water safety, sanitation, waste removal and crowd movement at the same time, particularly at a hilltop pilgrimage location where access and medical transport can be more difficult than in an ordinary urban settlement.
Local bodies have been directed to ensure regular garbage collection, proper disposal of liquid waste and disinfection of public toilets. Officials have also ordered intensified anti-mosquito fogging and other vector-control measures during the festival period.
Health officers and workers will be deployed in important zones to manage high crowd density and provide first aid, officials said. The administration’s current plan is focused on maintaining medical coverage, monitoring water quality and ensuring that emergency patients can be moved quickly to higher-level healthcare facilities when necessary.
