Malegaon, Maharashtra, India

🇮🇳 Malegaon is a city and a municipal corporation in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Malegaon is one of the biggest city after Nashik city in North Maharashtra. It is situated on the bank of the Girna river with Mosam River river flowing through middle of the city dividing it in two parts. Malegaon is famous for its loom industries.

History Malegaon (previously Maligaon) at the confluence of the Mosam (previously Moosy) and Girna rivers. On the road linking Mumbai and Agra – now National Highway-3(NH3), it used to be a small junction known as Maliwadi (hamlet of gardeners).

Geography Malegaon is at the confluence of the Girna and Mosam rivers, at elevation of 438 metres (1437 feet) at 18.42°N 77.53°E.

It is 280 km north-east of the state capital Mumbai. It is centrally located and has good connectivity with nearby cities like Nashik, pune,Mumbai, indore, surat, dhule.

Roads: • State Highway 10 (Maharashtra) • National Highway 3 (India, old numbering) (Asian Highway no. 10) (Mumbai - Agra).

Economy Villages near Malegaon and towards Satana, Nampur, Sonaj, Talwade and Vadel are agricultural areas and major producers of onions. Pomegranate is another crop of commercial importance that is cultivated by farmers in nearby pockets. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Malegaon has a front office at Malegaon and a research farm at Vadel. There is also a campus of Mahatma Gandhi Vidyamandir's H. H. Sri Sri Murlidhara Swamiji College of Agriculture and H. H. Sri Sri Murlidhara Swamiji College of Horticulture in the Malegaon Camp area. There is also a cloth manufacturing industry mostly using power looms. Around 3 Buffalo meat processing and export units are present in Malegaon City.

Demographics As of 2011 India census, Malegaon city had urban/metropolitan population of 481,228. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Malegaon has an average literacy rate of 70.54%: Male literacy is 74.25% and female literacy is 66.63%. About 15.41% of the population is under 6 years of age.

In Malegaon City Islam is the most practiced religion with approximately 379,927 (78.95%) following it. 89,011 (18.50%) of the population following Hindu religion. Buddhism is followed by 6,830 (1.42%) and Jainism 3,933 (0.82).

78.23% of the population spoke Urdu, 16.76% Marathi, 1.77% Hindi and 1.03% Khandeshi as their first language.

Education Malegaon has a lot of schools and colleges. Night schools for elders, only Boys and only Girls schools, colleges offering diploma/degrees in Pharmacy, Education, Medicine, Management, etc. Language of instruction include urdu, marathi and english. • The Malegaon High School and Junior College (ATT) • Loknete Venkatrao Hire Academy • Mansoora College

Covid-19 Malegaon Model A epidemiological study by panel of doctors appointed by government was conducted to unearth the reasons behind super covid control in Malegaon and published in Asian Journal of Medical Sciences. News agencies captured the phenomenon.Indian Express published a story around this with title magic Malegaon project. Times of India also published a news article around this with title Malegaon success story.

During this testing and challenging time, local Unani Medical Doctors (BUMS) played a pivotal role. The Eastern Part of the City was sealed after the Covid outbreak. Doctors in Western Part of the City refused to admit the Covid positive patients. The Malegaon General Hospital had also closed its doors for Covid patients. At this crucial juncture Unani Medical Graduates took control of the Healthcare System of the City. Risking their life, they converted their small dispensaries to admit Covid patients, and went home to home to save them.

Bomb blast On 29 September 2008, three bombs exploded in the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra killing eight people and injuring 80. Three of the arrested suspects were identified as Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra, and Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu. All three were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Nashik, which remanded them to custody till 3 November. On 28 October, the Shiv Sena, came out in support of the accused saying that the arrests were political in nature., Shiv Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray, propounded a potential conflict of interest in political rivalry as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) controlled the relevant ministry. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found evidence against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and it has recommended the court to act against all charges against her which was proven incorrect.

The Indian Army officer Prasad Shrikant Purohit was also accused of being involved in the blast.