Ahmedabad’s Navratri traffic is expected to come under severe pressure on the SG Highway, Sardar Patel Ring Road, Sindhubhavan Road and approaches to Vaishnodevi Circle, as night-time vehicle volumes rise by an estimated 35% to 40% while road and infrastructure works continue across the western parts of the city.
According to a report by Gujarat Samachar – Ahmedabad, average daily traffic on the SG Highway and Ring Road, normally between 1.20 lakh and 1.30 lakh vehicles, could rise to 1.75 lakh to 1.85 lakh vehicles during the nine nights of Navratri. The increase is expected mainly during the period from 8 pm to 2 am, when vehicles heading to commercial garba venues and clubs will overlap with taxis and regular traffic.
The traffic pressure is expected to be intensified by ongoing works on several important routes. Flyover construction, drainage-line work and pre-festival road resurfacing have narrowed sections of the carriageways. Diversions, barricading and restricted service roads have reduced available road space around construction sites, particularly along the SG Highway, where civil works and metro or bridge projects are under way.
The report said that large crowds travelling to garba venues could converge on narrow service roads and diverted stretches at the same time. On Sindhubhavan Road and the Bopal-Ambli approach road, incomplete road repairs and parking outside venues could further reduce road capacity. In some locations, a three-lane road may effectively be reduced to a single usable lane because of parked vehicles and traffic management arrangements.
The expected congestion is not limited to private vehicles. Commercial garba events are likely to generate simultaneous movement by private cars, app-based cabs and two-wheelers, placing additional pressure on junctions and access roads. The affected corridors connect residential areas, commercial developments and event venues in Ahmedabad’s rapidly expanding western suburbs, where road capacity is already being shared with major construction activity.
Ahmedabad Police has announced a large deployment for Navratri safety and traffic management. The police commissioner said 14,000 police personnel and 500 senior officers would be deployed across the city, supported by 139 PCR vans. Forty-nine women’s safety teams, operating in plain clothes, will be assigned to prevent harassment and respond to complaints around crowded venues.
The police will also monitor the city through 4,000 CCTV cameras connected to control-room operations. An additional 500 personnel have been assigned to traffic duties on the roads. Their deployment is intended to manage vehicle movement, monitor congestion points and support crowd movement during the festival period.
The traffic challenge reflects the operational difficulty of hosting large night-time gatherings while major road and transport projects remain active. For motorists, the immediate risks identified in the report are narrowed carriageways, limited parking, diversions and simultaneous movement towards multiple venues. Police and traffic authorities are expected to manage these pressure points during the nine-day festival through field deployment, CCTV monitoring and traffic-control measures.
