Ahmedabad Rural Police has introduced a stricter Navratri 2026 safety plan for commercial and community garba venues, requiring daily 24-point security audits, certificates for fire, electrical and structural safety, and stronger arrangements for women, children, traffic and emergency access.
The measures were outlined at a meeting chaired by Ahmedabad Rural Superintendent of Police Omprakash Jat with garba organisers at the police headquarters. The plan will apply to venues across areas including Bopal, Shela, Hathijan and Sanand, where large commercial events are held at farms, party plots and clubs.
Under the new requirements, commercial garba organisers must complete a mandatory 24-point security audit every day. Certificates relating to fire safety, electrical safety and structural stability must also be submitted daily to the local police station, according to the report by Nav Gujarat Samay – Ahmedabad.
The police have instructed organisers to maintain police help desks, dedicated help desks for women and children, closed-circuit television control rooms and medical teams at the venues. Separate entry lines for women will be required, while larger events will have to deploy women bouncers and women security guards.
The safety plan also places responsibility on organisers to manage venue capacity and access. Organisers have been told not to sell more passes than a venue can accommodate. Police action will be taken if anyone illegally collects parking charges or sells passes without authorisation at commercial garba venues.
Each large garba venue must appoint a nodal person to coordinate directly with the designated officer at the relevant police station. The arrangement is intended to give police a single point of contact for operational issues during events.
Ahmedabad Rural Police teams will monitor garba venues, parking areas and poorly lit locations. The teams will operate in both traditional clothing and khaki uniforms. The report also states that drones and artificial intelligence tools will be used for crowd management at commercial venues.
Police deployment will continue through Navratri and into Diwali. Officers are expected to remain on the roads until 1 am, with night rounds scheduled from 11 pm to 5 am. Organisers have also been told to ensure suitable access for emergency vehicles, an operational requirement that could become critical at crowded venues.
Police officials estimate that around 20 commercial garba events will be held in Ahmedabad Rural this year, alongside more than 800 garba events of different sizes. Last year, more than 700 commercial and community garba events were held across the district, according to the report.
The expanded audit and monitoring requirements shift part of the event-safety responsibility onto organisers, while local police stations will conduct security audits of individual venues. The plan’s implementation will depend on daily compliance, coordination with nodal officers and the availability of emergency, medical and crowd-control arrangements at each venue.
