At a time when many northern and western neighbourhoods are facing unscheduled power cuts, streetlights on nearly six streets in Kolathur keep glowing through the day. This also includes the 80-feet-Main Road connecting Kumaran Nagar bus terminus in Kolathur with Moolakadai Junction on the Grand Northern Trunk (GNT) Road.
Residents and motorists, especially those from Thanigachalam Nagar and Kumaram Nagar in Kolathur, have complained to civic authorities about this, but the lights continue to glow. “I often notice these street lights burning during the day. Earlier, I used to bring it to the notice of the local body. As they don’t take any action, I stopped alerting them,” said K. Ashwin, a resident of Kolathur.
According to energy experts, on an average the wattage of sodium street lamps varies from 100 to 500 depending on the amount of illumination required for a particular stretch. More wattage means more brightness and more power consumption. On an average, 250 watts of electricity can light up a few fluorescent lamps and a fan in a home for a few hours.
Each of these streets in Kolathur where lights were kept burning have at least seven to eight streetlights. Officials of the Chennai Corporation, which is in charge of the streetlights, said that they had been replacing the existing tube lights and mercury vapour lamps with energy-saving lights such as induction lamps, LED lights and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in phases. At present, the city has around 2.2 lakh streetlights in all its 15 zones including 88,000 lights in the newly-added zones such as Tiruvottiyur, Sholinganallur, Alandur and Ambattur. In some areas, we kept the streetlights burning to identify any fault in the electric lines that supply power to these street lights. The new LED lights are automated to get switched off, while the existing tube lights need to be manually switched off,” said a Corporation official. Residents said the Corporation should not abandon the existing practice of switching off the old streetlights even if they were busy installing new LED lights.
In fact, the power consumption by the old tube lights and mercury vapour lamps is 25 per cent higher than the power consumed by CFL and LED lights. S. Murugan, a resident of Kolathur, pointed out the irony of the situation. “On one hand, streetlights are kept burning during the day. On the other, unscheduled power cuts are effected.” Each of these streets in Kolathur where lights were kept burning have at least seven to eight street lights.
Officials of the Chennai Corporation, which is in charge of the street lights, said that they have been replacing the existing tube lights and mercury vapour lamps with energy-saving lights such as induction lamps, LED lights and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in phases. At present, the city has around 2.2 lakh street lights in all its 15 zones including 88,000 lights in the newly added zones such as Tiruvottiyur, Sholinganallur, Alandur and Ambattur.
“In some areas, we kept the street lights burning to identifying any fault in the electric lines that supply power to these street lights. The new LED lights are automated to get switched off and the existing tube lights need a manual switched down,” said a corporation official.
