Chandigarh, 9 November 2026: Police and emergency services across Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula put additional arrangements in place for Diwali on 8 November. Contemporary reporting documented 800 police personnel and 60 checkpoints in Chandigarh, while Panchkula Police announced a deployment of 773 personnel and 34 checkpoints. These were preventive arrangements announced for the festival, not figures for arrests or incidents.
The preparations were reported by Hindustan Times on 8 November, with detailed Panchkula Police arrangements independently covered by The Tribune on 6 November.
Chandigarh: 800 police personnel and 60 checkpoints
Hindustan Times reported that Chandigarh had deployed around 800 police personnel and established 60 checkpoints, comprising 40 mobile or floating checkpoints and 20 on the outer border. The measures were intended to manage the holiday rush and maintain public safety as markets and neighbourhoods prepared for celebrations.
The report also described emergency-service readiness across the Tricity, including fire and medical personnel on standby. It did not provide a final tally of incidents handled after the festival.
Panchkula: 773 personnel, 34 checkpoints and emergency vehicles
According to The Tribune’s 6 November report, Panchkula Police announced a deployment of 773 personnel and 34 checkpoints. The district’s arrangements included 20 emergency response vehicles, 29 police riders and 12 PCR vehicles, along with three SWAT commandos.
The report attributed details of the restrictions to Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Aditi Singh. Officers were instructed to increase patrolling and check suspicious vehicles and activity during the festive period. These details describe the police’s announced plan, rather than independently verified totals for every shift.
Firecracker rules announced for 7 and 8 November
Panchkula Police said only permitted green crackers could be used during the specified windows on 7 and 8 November: 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm. The Tribune reported prohibitions on series crackers and crackers containing barium salts, and restrictions on bursting crackers within 300 metres of hospitals, schools, courts, places of worship and other notified silence zones.
These timings relate to the dates stated in the announcement. They should not be treated as an advisory for future dates without checking current district orders.
What was reported for Mohali and the wider Tricity?
The Hindustan Times report described stepped-up police presence and standby emergency arrangements across Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. However, the cited reports do not establish a comparable verified district-wide police deployment figure for Mohali, so no such number is included here.
The coordinated focus on policing, traffic management and emergency response matters to residents travelling between the three cities during a major festival. Local traffic conditions and temporary restrictions can change quickly, and commuters should use current police advisories rather than rely on a pre-festival report for live routing.
What the reports do not establish
The figures above refer to announced security arrangements. As of this report, the cited sources do not establish final numbers of traffic violations, emergency calls, injuries, fires or arrests for the 8 November celebrations. No claim is made that all checkpoints remained active for the same duration or that the deployments prevented any specific incident.
For a separate look at the festival’s local commercial impact, see our report on Dhanteras retail activity in Chandigarh Tricity.
Sources
Hindustan Times, 8 November 2026: Tricity all set for a ‘Happy Diwali’; The Tribune, 6 November 2026: Panchkula deploys 773 cops, sets up 34 checkpoints ahead of Diwali.