Cuttack Municipal Corporation’s (CMC) plan to light up the city with LED street lights will finally take off from July 2016. According to Gyan Ranjan Das, commissioner, CMC, atleast Rs 34 crore will be spent on replacing the conventional street lights with LEDs. A Delhi-based agency will execute the project and maintain it for about five years.
The project will be a major boost for the city as it will help in reducing electricity costs in a significant manner. It has been learned that CMC spends Rs 6 crore annually towards electricity bills for streetlights. Moreover, they also spend another Rs 50 lakh on maintenance of the conventional sodium vapour lights.
There are close to 18,000 streetlights in the city and after the project gets implemented it is expected that 50 to 60 per cent costs will be saved on electricity bills. The project will start in phases and will be completed by March 2017.
Although the project was designated to kick start in July 2014, it could not be started due to non availability of funds. But now with ample fund available the city is all set to embrace LED streetlights.
By Atanu Kumar Das
