A city located in Southern India State of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, is close to signing an agreement with SIDCO to replace 84,000 streetlights with LEDs after a postponement of nearly two years.
The streetlight project that was delayed was plagued with postponements and controversies, while recent discussions were over a few clauses of the agreement that the local body objected to.
Officials of the Corporation’s engineering department exclaimed that one of the clauses was that the Corporation will have to shell out money for repairs in case the street light is damaged after being hit by a vehicle. The Corporation stuck to its position that it will spend money only for damage caused by natural calamities.
He further emntioned thatSIDCO has agreed to this and a few other changes. The agreement is expected to be signed soon since much of the differences have been ironed out.
The large scale LED streetlight replacement project will rely on GPS survey of existing streetlights across all 100 wards of the Corporation that will be used for a database to track faults and channel repair works.
SIDCO will buy back existing fluorescent streetlights, and some suggested the old streetlights to nearby village councils (panchayats).
Once the agreement with SIDCO is signed, the LED streetlight installations are expected to be finished within nine months. Delays in the city streetlight installations, has caused the city government to call for tenders for maintenance and replacement of fluorescent lights twice this year.
By Baishakhi Dutta
