Traditional streetlights in Punjab’s cities is all set to be replaced by the lEDs. The move is mulled by the State Government with the objective of saving power as well as giving better visibility to the commuters.
The decision came after the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal approved the project during a high-level meeting and directed the local Bodies Secretary to ensure its completion by August 15 next year. The Government has estimated that the installation of lED lights will save around 100 mega watt (MW) power annually.
In the first phase, the project will be implemented in Amritsar, Jalandhar, ludhiana, Bathinda and Patiala by April 30next year. In the second phase, all urban areas will have lED lights within next eight months. Besides saving power, it will improve driving and night-time visibility for pedestrians and motorists, said Sukhbir. He said that the pilot project for lED installation in Mohali will be completed by the end of this year.
“Using lED lights will result in huge saving of energy and money for municipalities as a study conducted in Mohali has found that 35,20,911 kilo watt (KW) of energy is saved every year by replacing 18,920 commonly-used lighting lamps,” he said. Keeping in view the idea of energy-saving and cost reduction, Sukhbir also mooted a plan to replace all lights at the state government offices, boards and corporations with lED lights.
For the purpose, he asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with Powercom to get a complete survey at the earliest in this regard and to take this as pilot project in all offices in one block for lED retrofitting within next two months. Deputy Chief Minister has also appealed to religious and educational institutions to adopt lED lighting system to save energy, money and environment from global warming.
Stating that life expectancy and power consumption of lED lights are five times more than the CFls, Sukhbir asked the department and Powercom to calculate actual amount of electricity bills including maintenance costs being incurred by the Urban local Bodies and development authorities on traditional street lights. He also directed to install more street-light poles wherever required for better illumination.
Sukhbir asked the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee having representatives from PWD, PEDA, local Government and PIDB to take quick policy decisions wherever and whenever required to complete this project in a fixed time frame.