Power-hogging sodium vapour street lights will soon be a thing of the past

“We are maintaining 2,77,662 streetlights on the arterial and interior roads of the city. We have taken up erecting LED lamp posts in the poorly lit newly added Zones,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

According to the official, of the 2,77,662 streetlights maintained in the city, 2,77,005 lights have been converted into LED lights.

“There are only 657 sodium lights left to be converted. Apart from this, we have a few lights on parks and other places to be converted. Overall, less than 1,000 lights are there for the conversion,” the official added.

The civic body, during the phase-1, had converted and erected 1,82,775 LED lightings in the city and taken up conversion of 87,892 streetlights at a cost of Rs 141 crore during the phase-2, which is about to be completed after converting 657 lights.

The civic officials believe that the LED lights would reduce power consumption up to 45 per cent and save money. “In March 2015, we paid Rs 6.53 crore as electricity bill. Now, we are paying Rs 4 crore per month, thanks to LED lights. Remaining lights will be converted in a couple weeks,” the official added.

Of the 657 sodium vapour lights that await conversion, 241 lights are in Tiruvottiyur Zone, 175 lights are in Tondiarpet, 68 in Royapuram and 67 in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar. Kodambakkam has 23,789 LED lights, which is the highest number.

When asked about the sodium vapour streetlights on Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway, the official said that the road is under the maintenance of Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) and the civic body is seeking funds from the company. “Once they grant fund, we will convert the lights.”