This Diwali, the Lights Stay On: Inside UPPCL's Festival-Season Supply Order

Ten days of festivals are ahead, and the power department has been told to keep the lights on through all of them. On 3 November, UPPCL headquarters issued directions for uninterrupted and safe supply during November's festivals. The very next day, PVVNL Meerut, the discom that runs supply in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur and neighbouring districts, passed the order down to its field offices with a clear message: from Dhanteras to the Chhath Argha, no trips, no shutdowns, no excuses.

The festival clock the department is working to

Supply hours: what changes where

City areas and district headquarters already run 24x7, so for urban consumers the order is mostly about keeping that steady through the festival rush. The real change is in the villages. Rural feeders normally carry about 18 hours of supply a day, which had improved to roughly 21 hours in recent months. For the festival window, 6 to 15 November, rural areas are to get the full 24 hours, the same as cities.

For a village household, this is the part that matters. Lamps and cooking run late on Diwali night without a cut spoiling the evening, and through Chhath, the supply stands through both the morning and evening argha. If you have seen rural feeders go down at the usual evening hour, that pause is what this order suspends for ten days.

What the order tells the field staff

The instructions are practical, and they read like a checklist written by someone who has handled a festival season before:

• Line clearance on 33 kV and 11 kV feeders, and a check of every transformer, grid and feeder circuit, so that no fault is waiting to happen.
• Spare parts stocked in advance at every division.
• No shutdowns. The order does not allow any planned outage during the festival window.
• Repair crews placed at sensitive spots in advance, especially near markets, temples, puja pandals and Chhath ghats, so that if something does trip, restoration starts on the spot.
• Load on feeders watched through the department's MIS, with action the moment any circuit shows stress.
• Markets, temples and ghats get uninterrupted, tripping-free supply as a priority.
• 24x7 rosters for staff and officers through the festival days.
• The 1912 helpline is to stay live round the clock.
• Even the enforcement wing keeps working: checking teams are told to continue action against power theft, and electric repair shops are being mapped with locations so that line-safety rules set by the CEA are actually followed.

What it means for you

For a consumer, this order shows up in small ways. Your area should not see the routine maintenance cuts that normally land carelessly on festival days. If a fault does strike, the crew is likely to be already nearby, because they have been parked at crowded markets and ghats on purpose. Chhath ghats will have supply arrangements and safety checks done in advance rather than on the day.

Two things worth remembering. First, if power does go, call 1912 and keep your KNo ready; the helpline is part of the order itself. Second, the festival protection covers supply, not dues. Recovery work and disconnection drives pause for the festivals, and they resume after, as we explained in our earlier piece on the disconnection drive and the 15-day notice rule. If your bill is pending, the festival window is a good time to clear it.

Source: PVVNL (Meerut) Managing Director's office letter no. 6865 dated 04.11.2026, forwarding UPPCL Director (Distribution) letter no. I/68748/2026 dated 03.11.2026 on uninterrupted and safe electricity supply during Diwali and Chhath Puja.