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.
