The North Block and the South Block — two iconic buildings that flank the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi — would be a daily visual treat from Wednesday with a dynamic lighting system displaying a wide range of themes with up to 16 million colour combinations during the night time. The new dynamic façade lighting over an area of 21,450 square metres will be a treat between 7 pm and 5 am with colours changing every few seconds.
The twin buildings at present are illuminated on eight select days through the year — including Republic and Independence Days — with static lighting.
According to Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the system is equipped with dimming feature to reduce the electrical load. The initiative will add the two buildings to the league of other historical sites like the Eiffel Tower, which is lit up every day. “The dynamic lighting, installed by the Central Public Works Department, will be switched on by a Union Home Ministry official in the North Block on Wednesday”, officials of the Urban Affairs Ministry said.
The new light fittings will be free from dust, vermin and moisture with outdoor weather protection of the highest order (IP-66) with robust design. It also conforms to the most stringent international regulatory framework of environmental and technical parameters (RoHS, Ul and CE). It will not have any effect on the sandstone structures of the North and South Block buildings. Care has been taken to protect the heritage character of these famed buildings. All light fittings are outdoor and placed either on the ground in front lawns or on rooftop.
“The system is capable of providing both volume and focus lighting to highlight the architectural features of the historical buildings, a fine blend of the traditional Indian and British architecture,” officials added.
The annual saving on account of new lighting with respect to replacement, maintenance and operation costs will be Rs 86.40 lakh, officials said. Besides, the life of the new lED light fittings is expected to be over one lakh active hours, coming to about 25 years as against only 10,000 burning hours for the existing system.
Under the present lighting system, 50,000 lED bulbs of three watts are lit up on the walls of the iconic buildings for special lighting on eight occasions in a year. In addition, 170 lamps of 400 MW/250 MW Metal Halide and Sodium Vapour for façade lighting and 72 lED lights for security lighting are also used. The new dynamic lighting system with 800 fittings will do away with all of these.
The energy consumption of the new system will cost Rs 8.40 lakh per year, officials said, adding it would be “much less” as compared to the conventional lighting. According to Ministry officials, the initial investment of Rs 15.40 crore for the new system will be recovered in six to seven years as against the costs being incurred every year now.
