Karnataka will LED the way in streetlights, to cover entire state

BENGALURU: If everything goes according to plan, Karnataka will be the first State in the country to adopt LED streetlights across the State. Over the next six months, some parts of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and ten mahanagara palikes will get LED streetlights, reducing power consumption by a large extent.

The ambitious plan of replacing nearly five lakh streetlights in Bengaluru with energy-efficient LED lights was announced in 2018. At present, the BBMP spends close to Rs 250 crore per annum in paying bills and maintaining streetlights. With LEDs, the power bills and maintenance costs will come down drastically. A senior BBMP official said that in the first phase, one lakh streetlights will be replaced and the work is expected to start by the year-end and will be completed by April 2021. The BBMP has already completed the survey of streetlights in a few zones and the rest will be covered soon.

The Urban Development Department is taking up the project in ten mahanagara palikes. Urban Development Minister Byrathi Basavaraju told The New Indian Express that they have already started the process in four Mahanagara Palikes of Mysuru, Mangaluru, Tumakuru and Davanagere. “We have called for tenders in Davanagere and Mangaluru, and will do it for Mysuru too,” he said. It is expecting to cover all the ten mahanagara palikes over the next six months. “We were supposed to complete the project by this year, but could not because of Covid,” he added.

Once the project is implemented in mahanagara palikes, it will be taken up in city and town municipalities. “The entire state will be covered in a phased manner, and once done, we will be the first state to have LEDs from one end to the other,” he said.