The streetlights that lit up the city roads are forcing the Kochi Corporation into dire straits as the local body will have to pay a power bill of around Rs. 15 crore annually.
The local body is forced to pay the hefty power bill at a time when a proposal for installing power saving equipment is gathering dust.
The local body had paid close to Rs. 40 lakh, its contribution, to the Kerala State Electricity Board during the 2012-13 fiscal for installing timers and automatic switches to its lamp posts across the city. The Board had offered 50 per cent subsidy for installing the facility, which would have saved 25 per cent of power, said T.J. Vinod, chairman of the Development Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation. Earlier, the Kochi Corporation had procured and provided equipment worth Rs. 18 lakh to the Board to be installed for the central zone of the local body. The gadgets failed to yield the desired results and a large number of them developed technical snags, which defeated the purpose of the mission, Mr. Vinod said.
It is estimated that there are around 46,000 street lights in the city and the Kochi Corporation is paying the power charges for them. Though there are rules and guidelines for installing the street lights, they are seldom followed and councillors yield to local pressure and recommends street lights at all nook and corners of the city, said K.J. Sohan, chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.
Power bills have increased steeply over the past few months. The latest power bill gave a shock to the civic administrators as the KSEB slapped a bill of Rs 1.30 crore to the Kochi Corporation. The hefty monthly power bill has stirred a discussion within the civic body and some civic administrators, including Mr. Vinod, have demanded the installation of power saving equipment.
When contacted, A.M. Jamal, Chief Engineer of the Board for the region, said the KSEB had cleared the proposal for procuring the equipment. The project would be implemented on a turn-key basis, he said.
Rs 1.30-crore
power shocker for corporation.
