The Hindu 18.06.2013
Streetlights to be metered
The Corporation is taking steps to get meters and light
sensors installed by the Kerala State Electricity Board on all 84,000
streetlight posts in the city.
This will pave way for
the installation of LED lights on the posts. (LED or light-emitting
diode is a semiconductor diode which glows when a voltage is applied).
The light-detecting sensors can turn on or off the lamps.
Defunct lights billed
The
installation of meters would quantify the use of power for
streetlights. The civic body had been paying huge sums as power bills as
even defunct lights are billed by KSEB.
The
Corporation had paid Rs.1.1 crore to the KSEB for the installation of
meters. The formalities would take three months and tenders could be
invited only after the government’s technical sanction, sources said.
The Corporation had paid the fee to install meters in four KSEB sections
two years ago. Work in these sections would start shortly, Corporation
sources said. After metering, the operation and maintenance of the
lights would be done by the Corporation.
High-mast
lamps in the city had already been metered. These lamps would be
supplemented with timer-control switches so that some bulbs could be
turned off after peak hours, sources said.
Corporation works standing committee chairperson V.S. Padmakumar told
The Hindu
that power bills were going up every year and power-saving options had to be explored.