For the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), this year’s Dasara will be a ‘power-saving’ one.
With the street illumination having been cut down considerably in response to the call for a simple Dasara, only the Raja Marga — the procession route from the palace to Bannimantap and from Hardinge Circle to Sri Chamarajendra Circle — has been lit up.
Despite this limitation, the lighting at the Statue Circle stands out from the rest.
Importantly, the use of power-guzzling luminous bulbs has been completely discontinued; only LED lamps are being used to brighten the Core Heritage Zone.
Even the canopy of lighting along the procession route has been done with LED lamps. A giant green pandal has been created in the middle of Sayyaji Rao Road using LED bulbs.
Madesh, Assistant Executive Engineer, CESC, Mysuru, told The Hindu that lighting had been confined between 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., which is the illumination timing of Amba Vilas Palace.
The illumination will now consume about 250 to 300 units of power daily, while the consumption last year was around 1,500 units a day. The cut in illumination and the use of LED lamps had reduced the consumption, he added.
Even for subdued illumination, the CESC managed to get sponsors. The one at Sri Chamarajendra Circle had been sponsored by TVS Group, while the lighting at Ayurveda College Circle has been taken up by State Bank of Mysore. The corporation also got sponsorship for the lighting at Highway Circle in Bannimantap. The rest of the lighting is being covered by CESC.
In 2013, the power consumption came down to 30,000 units as about 2.3 lakh metres of LED string-lights had been used to illuminate the roads. Last year, about 54,000 units of power was consumed during illumination.
But, like every year, the most-awaited moment is when the iconic Amba Vilas Palace is lit up by one lakh incandescent bulbs.
