Sodium vapour lamps to be a thing of the past in Bengaluru as project to replace them with LED bulbs takes off
The yellow light of sodium vapour lamps in street lights will soon be a thing of the past in the city. The project to replace all energy-guzzling sodium vapour lamps with LED lights has finally taken off.
After an earlier pan-city tender bagged by Shapoorji Pallonji failed to take off, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) opted to divide the project into multiple packages, and different companies have bagged the contracts.
'Of the eight zones, tenders have been finalised in seven and tender work is under way in the Mahadevapura zone, and that will also be finalised soon. Once these companies get work orders, they will get eight months' time to replace all sodium vapour lamps with LED lights,' said a senior engineer in charge of street lights in the civic body.
The proposal to replace all sodium vapour lamps in street lights with LED lights was first made in 2017, and work began in 2018. Although a pan-city contract failed to materialise, BBMP began replacing sodium vapour lamps with LED lights on an ad hoc basis wherever funds were available. Many ward committees had also taken the initiative to install LED lights using funds allocated to their wards.
Prior to new tenders being called, BBMP took up a survey of all street lights across the city. The survey showed that there were 5.36 lakh street lights and over 45,000 empty poles without any lamps. Of the 5.36 lakh street lights, the survey has found that while 2.50 lakh already have LED bulbs, 2.85 lakh of them still have sodium vapour lamps, which will be replaced now. The empty poles will also get LED lights.
Payment based on energy conservation
BBMP officials stated that the current electricity bill for street lights in the city amounts to a whopping ₹25 crore per month, despite 44% of the street lights already being equipped with LED bulbs. Replacing the rest of the sodium vapour lamps with LED lights is estimated to bring down this bill by at least 50%.
As per the terms of the new contract, BBMP will not invest any money to install new LED bulbs. Instead, the companies that have bagged the contract will invest the money and install LED bulbs. Four companies that have now bagged four packages (multiple zones in each package) will be paid ₹2 crore per month for 84 months (7 years) if they show a saving of 50% on the electricity bill in their area. The terms and conditions of the contract in the Mahadevapura zone are yet to be worked out.
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