J. Malarvizhi
They will come up in one location in all 10 zones.
CHENNAI: Light gifted by the sun continued to illuminate the Kalvai
Karai slum in Tod Hunter Nagar after dusk on Saturday. Sixty
streetlights with 18-watt Compact Fluorescent Lamps that automatically
get illuminated as the sun sets and switch off when it rises have been
set up in the slum in Saidapet at a cost of Rs.11.5 lakh.
In record time
“This is a budgetary proposal that has been implemented in record
time,” Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said.
While these solar-powered lamps cost a few thousands more than the
ordinary lamps, the cost can be recovered in a year or a year and a
half.
Mayor M. Subramanian said that the scheme would result in substantial
saving on the Rs.18 crore the local body has to pay the Tamil Nadu
Electricity Board (TNEB) every year. The solar-powered streetlights
have been proposed for slum areas with narrow roads and would be set up
at one location each in all 10 zones.
The standard 20-watt streetlight uses about 19.8 units of
electricity a day. The use of one solar-powered lamp as replacement
would save 594 units every month.
Currently, all of the over 1.2 lakh streetlights in the city function
on electricity drawn from the TNEB lines.
The Corporation has installed more than 4,000 streetlights and 10
high-mast lamps over the last year alone, Mr.Subramanian said. In the
current financial year, the local body proposed to install 12,000
streetlights and 23 high-mast lamps.
The Corporation was also set to bring down the current amount of three
or four per cent of non-functioning streetlights to zero.
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