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Civic body to hire drivers, clean city at night

Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:21 administrator
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Indian Express 11.03.2010

Civic body to hire drivers, clean city at night

Express News Service Tags : corporation, civic body to hire drivers Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0350 hrs

Chandigarh: The Municipal Corporation has decided to introduce the concept of night sweeping using mechanised sweeping machines.

For this, the city would be divided into three zones — sectors north of Madhya Marg; Madhya Marg towards Dakshin Marg; and southern sectors.

The decision was taking during a meeting of the sanitation committee on Wednesday. It was also decided that the machines would function for 12 hours every day instead of the present eight hours.

The committee suggested three new drivers should be hired as the present strength was not sufficient.

Though the corporation had bought sweeping machines to initiate night sweeping, they were being used during the day often leading to traffic disruptions.

The committee also decided to outsource the maintenance of sehaj safai kendras (SSKs). There are around 30 centres in different sectors of the city but they lack maintenance. Complaints have been received about ragpickers entering SSKs and sifting through the garbage. Keeping in view the decreasing number of sweepers in the city, it was decided to increase their strength through outsourcing.

The meeting was held under the chairpersonship of Sarita Devi and attended by Pardeep Chhabra, Jatinder Bhatia, Surinder Kumar Jagota, Manjit Singh Chohan, Dr Neelam Malik and other officers.

Chhabra said stress would be laid on increasing the cleanliness level of the city.

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:23
 

The rising sun turns off these streetlights

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:31 administrator
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Hindustan Times 10.03.2010

The rising sun turns off these streetlights

The sight of streetlights lit even after sunrise must have made many Delhiites worry about wastage of electricity.

They would be relieved to learn that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has launched a system to monitor switching on and off of streetlights in the Capital.

The system will help coincide sunrise and sunset timings with the switching on and off of streetlights. It would also help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

MCD officials said, once functional, the system would ensure monitoring from a central control room of each road and create database for many years besides improving billing accuracy. The total cost of the project is Rs 200 crore.

All lights will be individually monitored and controlled from the central server, which would be situated inside the Civic Centre, the proposed MCD headquarter.

MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra said, “The system is based on GSM (Global system for mobile communication) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technology on which mobile phones work. In case of any fault, an SMS can be sent directly to the maintenance staff for speedy action and timely maintenance.”

“The system provides the report of operative and non-operative lamps on the road. Any theft of power from the feeders can also be detected.”

The civic body is upgrading streetlights in two phases. The first phase covering, 101 km, has been implemented and covered 52 roads including Panchkuain Road, Raja Garden to Pankha Road, Delhi Gate, Dr. Krishan Marg among others.

In the ongoing second phase, 157 km of work is in progress covering 107 roads. The work will be completed by May 2010.

“Once phase-II is completed, the status of the lights on individual roads shall be available to public on the MCD website,” added Mehra.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:36
 

New streetlight system to save energy

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:30 administrator
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Indian Express 10.03.2010

New streetlight system to save energy

Express News Service Tags : New streetlight system, delhi Posted: Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 0151 hrs

New Delhi: In its bid to save more energy, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched a remote-controlled street-lighting switch system on Tuesday. The system will work according to the time of the sunrise and sunset at any given location, officials said.

Under the automated system, the first of its kind in the country, streetlights can be switched on and off using an Internet-enabled main server located in the heart of the city.

Officials said the first phase of the streetlight upgrade project became operational from Tuesday and will cover a distance of 101 km on 52 roads, including main roads like Lodhi Road, Bhishma Pitah Marg and Jawaharlal Nehru Marg. In the first phase, around 2,235 such light poles have been erected.

“The system is based on global satellite monitoring and general packet radio service, similar to the one on which mobile phones work. While the system eliminates manual or timer-based operation of streetlights, the lights are automatically turned on and off according to the time of sunrise and sunset. This conserves energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions,” MCD Commissioner K S Mehra, who inaugurated the project at the civic body’s Ambedkar Stadium office, said.

The central server will be located at the Civic Centre, the new headquarters of the MCD on Minto Road.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of companies; Phillips Electronics Ltd, BP Project Pvt Ltd and Sweka Power-Tech Engineers Pvt Ltd. Delhi-based Sweka is responsible for developing the software and the related technology.

The second phase of the project, covering an additional 157 km and 107 roads, is slated for completion by May.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:37
 
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