Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will restrict its Diwali illumination this year to seven locations and switch the lights off at 1am, citing the ongoing power crisis in Gujarat, according to AMC Standing Committee chairman Kamlesh Patel. The decision sharply reduces the civic body’s usual festive lighting programme across the city.
The AMC will illuminate six bridges over the Sabarmati River and the Nagar Devi Bhadrakali Temple. Subhash Bridge will be excluded from the programme. No AMC lighting will be installed at other bridges, traffic circles, underpasses, heritage gates, sculptures or government buildings, the report said.
In previous years, Ahmedabad’s Diwali lighting covered about 118 locations. These included seven bridges over the Sabarmati, 45 other bridges, 46 traffic circles, seven underpasses, 11 heritage gates and two sculptures. The scale of this year’s programme represents a substantial reduction in the number of public places receiving illumination from the municipal corporation.
The lighting hours will also be cut. In earlier years, the installations were switched on from 7pm until 7am. This year, the lights will operate only from 7pm to 1am, reducing the daily operating period from 12 hours to six hours.
Patel said the AMC generally provided festive lighting on bridges, underbridges, traffic circles and government buildings. The revised arrangement, he said, takes into account the current power crisis and limits the civic programme to the six selected Sabarmati bridges and the Bhadrakali Temple.
The decision places a visible public celebration within the wider framework of electricity conservation during a period of supply concern in the state. For residents, commuters and visitors, the most noticeable change will be the absence of the familiar illumination at many of Ahmedabad’s major public spaces and transport-linked structures during Diwali.
The locations retained for lighting are concentrated around major civic and cultural landmarks. The six illuminated Sabarmati bridges will continue to provide a festive visual corridor across the river, while the Bhadrakali Temple will remain the only temple site included in the AMC’s stated list. The report does not specify the estimated electricity savings, the cost of the reduced programme or the duration of the power crisis.
The AMC’s announcement also leaves open whether any private, commercial or community-led lighting will take place at locations outside the municipal programme. The civic decision applies to lighting organised by the corporation. Further details on the installation schedule and the exact bridges selected, apart from the exclusion of Subhash Bridge, were not provided in the supplied report.
For this year’s Diwali celebrations, the municipal corporation’s stated plan is therefore limited to seven sites, with lighting operating between 7pm and 1am. The arrangement is expected to remain in force under the AMC’s current response to the state’s power situation.
