Missing Lifelines: Why have suicide helpline signboards vanished from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati river bridges?

The bulldozer operator angled the front arm over the barrier as some youths climbed up, hoping to pull the man back. After about half an hour, he finally relented. The crowd erupted in cheers.

“It took about half an hour for the men on the bridge to pull him back, but they did it,” said Mangela.

While the number of people purportedly attempting suicide in the river that divides East and West Ahmedabad has gradually declined, the proportion of those dying has risen, underscoring the need for preventive measures.

According to AFES data, of 211 attempts between November 2022 and October 2023, 184 persons (87%) were killed. From November 2023 to October 2025, there were 185 recorded attempts, of which 153 (nearly 83%) died. From November 2024 to October 2025, of the 171 recorded attempts, 140 (81.8%) died—showing only a marginal, one-percentage-point improvement in those saved over the corresponding period last year.

In November 2025 alone, 11 of the 13 people who tried to end their lives in the river, died – two of them women. AFES managed to save two men.

Things might have been different had those in distress been able to access mental health counselling—an approach adopted by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in November 2023. Under the initiative, signboards carrying the toll-free Jeevan Aastha Helpline (JAH) number- run by Gujarat Police under the Suraksha Setu programme—were installed on bridges. The helpline connects callers to professional psychologists who can offer immediate counselling, coordinate rescues, and arrange follow-up support.

However, many of the signboards went missing earlier this year—just as they had in the latter half of 2024—for reasons unknown even to the AMC.

The helpline has saved numerous lives since its adoption in Ahmedabad and has been preventing suicide attempts for over a decade along the Narmada Canal in Gandhinagar.

After The Indian Express reported December 2024 on the “disappearance” of the helpline boards, the AMC reinstalled some of them in February 2025. Several have since gone missing again, according to a ground check by the paper.

In August 2025, a 39-year-old man, who allegedly attempted suicide in the river, called the number of Jeevan Aastha he had earlier seen on a bridge signboard.

“He called from an isolated stretch of the Sabarmati Riverfront and said he was unable to meet his family’s financial needs despite working two jobs, which led to constant domestic conflicts,” said a JAH counsellor.

The man, who had remarried after a divorce, worked an office job by day and as a food delivery person at night to make ends meet. Overwhelmed by financial stress and marital discord, he purportedly decided to take the final step.

He told the counsellor he had seen the suicide prevention signboard on Sardar Bridge a couple of months earlier while driving from Jamalpur and had saved the number—1800-233-3330—on his phone. He decided to make one last call for help.

JAH alerted the police control room, and officers rescued him from the edge. “He and his wife were given follow-up counselling, and he is now doing well,” the counsellor said.

Last year, the AMC emptied the stretch of the river passing through the city between May and June for desilting, as maintenance of the Vasna barrage was underway.

While the cleanup dredged 945 tonnes of waste from the riverbed, it also coincided with a sharp drop in deaths that June.

In June 2023, only one of the 23 people who allegedly attempted suicide was saved. The following year, of 28 alleged attempts, 25 died—the highest monthly toll in their respective years. However, in June 2025, there were only five alleged attempts, of which two died. According to the river rescue team, this was because the river remained dry for most of the month. The same thing had happened in five months of 2019 when the river had been mostly dry for five months between May and September that year.

Dr Minakshi Parikh, Dean and Head of Psychiatry at BJ Medical College, said mood disorders show a seasonal pattern. “In bipolar mood disorder, where suicide risk is higher than in the general population, the impact is greater in summer. We observe a summer spike in these disorders, which could explain the higher deaths,” she said.

Speaking on the importance of mental health access to those in need, Dr Parikh said, “In that moment, a person may feel death is the only way out. If that moment passes or is interrupted, they may not attempt it again and may later feel it was foolhardy. The second is a ‘well considered’ suicide where the person has decided that pressures on them cannot be motivated by any other method in spite of trying their best. The person believes that ending their life is the only way out, the only way to peace out of suffering. In this case, the person may seek another method of suicide.”

When asked how this can be quantified, Dean Parikh said, “In any suicide prevention activity, there can never be data on how many suicides were prevented, because they were successful prevented, and thus, never happened.”

Spotlight on Gandhinagar

Access to mental health counselling has proved effective in deterring suicides in Gandhinagar since 2015, with suicide helpline signboards installed along the Narmada Canal. Over the past decade, JAH has received 820 calls from people who read the canal signboards; 246 (30%) were from individuals at extreme risk.

According to the latest data of calls to JAH from Ahmedabad, calls rose from 6,611 between November 2023 and October 2024, to 7,231 between November 2024 and October 2025, said retired Police Inspector Pravin Valera, who guides the Jeevan Aastha team. Of these, 34% (2,456) were from people in acute distress or at imminent risk of suicide. In November 2025 alone, JAH received 164 calls.

The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) has installed signs at some locations that read, “Don’t take a hurried step in anger,” but they do not carry any helpline number or details of assistance.

Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani, who is also Managing Director of SRFDCL, told The Indian Express: “This is a good initiative and we will ensure that the signboards are installed at these places.”

AMC’s Deputy Health Officer Dr Sanket Patel, who oversaw the installation of the signboards in November 2023 and again in February after the earlier report, said, “We will check why the signboards have disappeared again and ensure they are put back on the bridges.”