The officials of the civic body, under instructions from the municipal
administration and urban development department, are giving final
touches to the plans to replace the sodium-vapor lamps with LED lights
to improve lighting, save energy and reduce power charges.

The
city has more than 70,000 streetlights in the 72 wards falling under
GVMC. The corporation is planning to complete the project, which is
estimated to cost Rs 30 crore, in a phased manner by the end of March
2014. “It is a first of a kind initiative in the state on the lines of
the Chennai Municipal Corporation,” a senior GVMC officer said.

The GVMC decided to launch the programme in public-private-partnership
(PPP) mode. The corporation will select a private agency for fixing the
LED lamps to the existing lampposts in all the six zones under its
limits after through a global tender.

The civic body currently
pays about Rs 12 crore per year as power charges to the Eastern Power
Distribution Company of AP Limited (EPDCL) to maintain the 70,000
streetlights. It also spends nearly Rs 8 crore on maintenance and repair
of the streetlights. Once the project is awarded to a private agency,
GVMC will only have to pay the power charges.

“LED lights not
only improve lighting but also last longer than the sodium-vapour lamps.
The GVMC’s initiative is also expected to bring down energy consumption
by 25-30 % and indirectly help the discom save power,” an EPDCL
official said.

The agency that is awarded the contract has to
take care of everything, including maintenance, addressal of public
complaints and energy saving.

“GVMC will pay only power charges
to the agency which will bear the entire cost of the project,” GVMC’s
deputy executive engineer (electrical), R S S S V Ch. S S R Varma told
TOI. It would take nearly six months to replace all 70,000 streetlights,
he said.

GVMC is already working on a similar project to
illuminate the 10-km stretch of National Highway-16 in the city with LED
lights.