Christmas and New Year celebrations at Sabbalpur Diara would be a low-key affair this winter in the absence of proper arrangements by the state government.

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) has not made any plan for amusement activities at the sandbar. However, the skies above the diara would dazzle with thousands of colourful kites on Makar Sankranti (January 14).

“Though talks are on for starting amusement activities at Sabbalpur Diara, nothing has been finalised,” said Devendra Rajak, general manager, BSTDC.

Even event organisers have refrained from tying up with BSTDC. Raj Shekhar, proprietor of Ramsons Internationals, which operated all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) at the sandbar last year, said: “No security arrangements are provided at the sandbar either by BSTDC or the administration. We suffered losses when hooligans damaged our ATVs last year. We won’t run the vehicles even though a proposal had been made by the BSTDC.”

Around 30,000 people had visited the sandbar on January 1 this year. Residents, naturally, are crestfallen. “I like the diara as it gives an opportunity to break free from the hustle and bustle of city life. It is sad that there would be no amusement activity,” said Jai Vardhan, a resident of Ashok Rajpath.