January 19, 2015: As per the reports, the Mysuru Palace will continue to glow in bright golden light instead of LED lights as the plan to replace incandescent bulbs with energy saving LED bulbs is deferred.
Palace board authorities wanted to replace traditional incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs with an aim to cut down energy consumption. The plan was postponed as the authorities were not convinced with the ‘silver palace’ look which would be the result of LED lighting. The authorities have kept the option of using LED bulbs in case they are available in golden colour.
The central government has planned to replace all incandescent bulbs in the period of next three years by totally putting a brake on manufacturing of 100 watt bulbs in 2015, 60 watt bulbs in 2016 and 40 watt bulbs in 2017. After the initiative was launched, palace authorities were convinced to change lighting inside the palace.
Mysuru Palace is a great attraction in the city. During weekend and holidays, the palace witnesses huge footfall of visitors and locals to catch a glance of it. Few youths and tourists also go to Chamundi Hills just to get a different view of the palace lit in golden lights.
There were already lots of concerns that the LED bulbs would completely change the lighting of the palace. However, the authorities considered this option since it would save energy consumption. After lots of research the authorities decided to drop the project. Speaking to Times News Network, Sathish H, assistant executive engineer (electrical), Mysuru Palace Board said that the decision was taken by the government few days ago as LED bulbs would change the appearance of the palace from golden to silver. He also emphasised that LED bulbs are expensive and would cost more to the authorities.
