Residents’ wait for well-lit stretches could soon come to an end, as the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will start work on installing nearly 49,000 energy-efficient LED streetlights across the city from March 30, officials said on Thursday.
The project was to be completed by January, but MCG officials conceded that owing to revision in the estimated cost and types of equipment, the project was delayed indefinitely, and the deadline was pushed to August. “As per the deal struck initially with the concessionaire, only defunct streetlights were to be replaced by LED bulbs.
However, when we started work on the project, we realised that apart from replacing the defunct lights, there’s also a dire need to upgrade the existing infrastructure,” Yashpal Yadav, commissioner, MCG, said to Nyooz. Yadav said that apart from the defunct bulbs on streetlights, even the wiring, poles and switches need to be replaced.
He said that a detailed proposal had to be prepared afresh and sent to the urban local bodies (ULB) department for approval. With the additional upgrades proposed, the cost of the project has increased from 50 crore to 92 crore, Yadav said. “Now, the ULB has given its approval to the project and our work will start from March 30,” Yadav said.
Officials of the MCG and the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), the concessionaire for the project, held a meeting regarding the project on Thursday for fleshing out the contours of the project before starting work on it. On October 10, 2017, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between MCG and EESL for setting up 48,568 energy-efficient streetlights in the city.
However, these lights are not energy-efficient, as they are known to consume more power. They added that the LED lights, once installed, will help the city save over 13 million units of power annually. LED streetlights will be installed under the Street Lighting National Programme(SLNP) of the central government.
Gurgaon will be the first city in Haryana to adopt this programme. The MoU with EESL will be valid for 10 years and as per the agreement, the MCG will bear the cost for upgrading the infrastructure and the EESL will meet the maintenance cost, reported Nyooz.
