The Deccan Chronicle 25.08.2010
MIM demand opposed on streetlightsHyderabad, Aug. 24: The state government has issued orders to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to give the ‘streetlighting energy efficiency and automation project’ on contract to M2M-SSIL-GRC, a private consortium.
This is a major setback to the MIM, which wanted the project to be given back to the private contractors who had been in charge until two years ago.
The state government issued GO Ms 330 directing that the GHMC’s energy efficiency street lights project should be taken up on a pilot basis in the city. The project envisages adoption and installation of “dimmer technology” for street lights, which allows the GHMC to reduce the voltage of street lights on a select basis and save power.
In 2007, the municipal corporation had invited ‘expression of interest’ from private parties and the M2M consortium was one of the 16 firms that submitted an EoI. However, the MIM corporators demanded that the project be given back to private contractors. They were stripped of the contract when they switched off street lights last year in protest against the non-payment of their bills by the GHMC.
The civic body is paying nearly `100 crore per annum towards power charges on its street lights. There are over three lakh street lights in Greater Hyderabad and the numbers are only increasing. Streetlights still need to be improved in the peripheral areas that were added to form Greater Hyderabad.
The power saving technology will go some way in cutting down the increasing electricity bills.
In lanes and by-lanes, the voltage can be reduced from 240 watts to 40 watts after 11 pm.
