LEDs to light up city roads

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 24

City roads are set to be illuminated with energy efficient LED lights. Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) and private company Energy Efficiency Service Limited (EESL) company will be conducting a survey jointly for installing 25,000 LED lights in the city.

In the joint survey, it will be checked how much power will be consumed by these lights and how it will benefit the Municipal Corporation in paying the electricity bills. If found viable and beneficial for the corporation, then only the lights will be installed in the city.

After the completion of the joint survey, the MCB and the EESL would prepare a report of the project and it would be presented in the General House meeting and a decision regarding the same would be taken by municipal councillors.

The MCB is giving the contract for the work and maintenance of street lights to the EESL company, which will work on the guidelines released by the Union Ministry of Power for seven years. The MC will pay the company on an yearly basis up to seven years to complete the work.

At present, the Municipal Corporation Bathinda has been spending a high amount to pay electricity bills for street lights every month. Earlier, sodium lamps, tube lights and metal-halide lamps were installed in various areas of the city and these will be now replaced by LED Lights.

An MCB official said after installation of the LED lights, the MC would be able to save up to 50 per cent energy that will help reduce the monthly expenditure on electricity to half.

“In this way, we can reduce expenditure on electricity bills. If monthly saving is 45-50 per cent, the MC can easily pay annual charges to the company, which will install the LED lights,” the official said.

Senior Deputy Mayor Tarsem Goyal said this was not a simple project and a detailed discussion should be held before allotting the work as huge financial obligations were involved in the same.

“Earlier also, we gave the sewerage and solid waste treatment plant projects, which were not successful, hurriedly to companies. Hence, now we cannot afford any negligence on the part of Municipal Corporation Bathinda,” he said.

LED lights consume less energy than CFLs

Prices of LED lights are decreasing and their improved energy efficiency now make them worth the price.

The new variety of LED lights, which look like traditional bulbs, consume 80 per cent less energy. Though the LED lights are still more expensive than the CFLs, they last for a longer period, unlike the latter.