- Residents complain of patchy lighting in a project that aims to save money
- Works now on to fix energy-efficient lights in 12 Wards of MCC
Mysore/Mysuru: The new LED street lighting project that is being implemented in city may save money but is not bright and has made the roads dim. There is a lack of visibility due to patchy lighting — the area under the lamps are very well lit but other areas between lamps and on the sides are in almost complete darkness.
Many residents who have been used to seeing halogen, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and incandescent bulbs on the roads are finding the LED lights dim. However, the company that is implementing the project has clarified that the bulbs are being laid as per standards fixed by the State Government (Urban Development Department).
All the 68,178 CFL and halogen bulbs are being replaced within the limits of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), but wherever the LED lights are installed, motorists and residents have complained that the lights are not bright enough.
“Afterall, LED streetlights are not a bright idea as the areas between the lights are dark and this might lead to accidents and will hamper the movement of pedestrians as they walk along the side of the roads that are still dark,” said a resident.
“White light (LED) does not give as much illumination as yellow light. We have observed that LED lights do not diffuse into its surroundings. For streetlights, I think halogens and CFLs are better as they can provide the required amount of illumination,” another resident said. The move to install LED lights is beneficial if the cost efficiency factor is taken into consideration as LEDs consume far less energy when compared to halogens, CFLs and incandescent bulbs. “The white light generated by LEDs is only optimal for indoor purposes such as reading and working on a computer,” he added.
Officials from e-Smart Energy Saving Private Limited that is implementing the project in Mysuru, however, said that it had requested the State Government for permission to install streetlight bulbs that have a capacity of 45 watts. But this proposal got rejected and the company was told to follow the National Lighting Code.
People accustomed to bright lights
“People are used to looking at CFLs and halogens that emit bright yellow lights and the LEDs will appear dim to their eyes. But LEDs are the most widely accepted form of street lighting project in many cities and this system is being widely implemented all over,” said an MCC Electrical Engineer.
In Mysuru, the project is being implemented under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model with an estimated cost of Rs. 109.01 crore. At present, the project is being implemented in 12 MCC Wards.
With an intention to save on energy costs, the Government, during its 2015-16 Budget, had proposed to replace conventional bulbs including tube lights, high-pressure sodium, mercury vapour and metal halide lights (halogen lamps) with LED bulbs in City Corporations outside Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and had selected Mysuru for the pilot project.
Contract terms
As per the MCC contract, the e-Smart Energy Saving Private Limited has to install the lights and maintain the same for eight years, saving 58.77 percent electricity. “Every year, the MCC pays over Rs. 25 crore as electricity bills and once all the lights are replaced with LED bulbs, the MCC will save about Rs. 13 to Rs. 14 crore,” the MCC Electrical Engineer added.
In case the bulbs are damaged, the company has to replace them within 24 hours. The project is being implemented with a Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) with smart metres and Internet of Things (IOT) controllers.
This enables integration of all LED lamps and they can be operated remotely through apps. The entire operation (including switching on and off) and maintenance can be controlled through apps and there are only fewer chances of bulbs getting spoilt due to excessive heat unlike halogen and CFL bulbs.
12 watt bulbs don’t give enough light in an open space. It should be increased to 24 watts.
Absolute rubbish. If the lighting level is not sufficient then it is bad design, optimum wattage not used and also poor product quality. There are multiple factors. This is a result of poor design and execution. And I do not want to talk about the other irregularities in this order
It is strange people who have no idea about anything in lighting are in charge of providing lighting in our country.
LED street lighting has been the biggest hoax anyone has perptrated innour country. Sad but true.
Inorder to fix the light gap, we need to install more street lights.
Moving to led lights will help reduce the light polution that’s hampering the city. It will be helpful for birds and animals as well besides reducing the cost.
The engineering part seems to be missing in the work. You have to take in to account the width of the road and other factors when deciding on the wattage of the LED lights. The LED lights are going to replace Sodium, Mercury, etc. lights whose wattage was anywhere between 150 to 250W or more. So the wattage of LED lights has to be carefully chosen. Secondly, for the light to properly spread over an area an appropriate diffuser/filter has to be chosen to be fixed over the LED light. There is no “one size fits all” solution. LED lighting is the best of all lighting solutions if done properly.
To save electricity and cost MMC could have opted for zero watt lamp. city of lights is turning into dark city. Balance should have been made between usability and cost. This is complete waste of our hard earned tax money.
Very true engineering vis missing in this execution. Light angles are not calculated and fix ment of light angles not taken care
SIR, I STAY IN PAMPAPATHY ROAD RECENTLY THE YELLOW HALLIGEN LIGHTS ARE REPLACED WITH NONSENSE USELESS
LED LIGHTS THIS IS A COLLAOUSAL WASTE OF TAX PAYERS MONEY. THE SAME MCC IS
LEVYING TAX ON OPEN SITE IN PROPERTY TAX THIS YHEY ARE UNABLE TO TEVERSE EHETEAS THE SAME TAX PAYERS MONEY IS EADTED ON THESE USELESS LEF LIGHTS.
NOW AFTER TEPLACING THESE LED LIGHTS
IN FRONT OF OUR JOYSE EHICH IS AM INTERSECTION OF ISY MAIN AND 8TH CROSS
THE WHOLE AREA HAS BECOME TOTALLY DATL. DO MCC IS ENCOURAGING GOR MORE CHAIN SNATCHING MOTOR BORNE CULPRITS, INSTEAD PROVIDING BRIGHT LIGHTS TO MYSORE CITIZENS. SO WITH THESE NEW LED LIGHTS DEFINITELY ROAD
ACCIDENTS WILL INCREASE AND INSURANCE COMPANY EILL BE UNDER LOSD BY WAY OF PAYING TOWARDS CLAIMS GOR BOTH FOR
VEHICLE ANDBODY INJURY. I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHOSE THIS SLUGHISH IDEA OF LOOTING TAX PAYERS MONEY.
THANKS YO MCC COMMISSIONER FOR HAVING PLANNED FOR MORE ACCIDENTS AND MORE ROBBERUES IN MYSORE CITY.
INSTEAD OF HAVING THESE LED STREET LIGHTS IT IS BETTER NOT TO HAVE STREET LIGHTS AT ALL, WHICH SAVES MCCS OUTGO
TIWARDS ELECTRICITY BILL TOWARDS SYREET LIGHTS. SO PLEASE PLAN TO TEMOVE IMMEDIATELY.
REPLACING THE STREET LIGHTS WITH LEF IS HOPLESLESSLY BAD IFEA AND WADTE OF TAX PAYERS MONEY. MCC SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED THEIR PRACTICAL PRESENCE OF MIND AND COULD HAVE IMPLEMENTED THIS PROJECT. I DTAY IN IST MSIN JAYANAGAR THEY HAVE REPLACED RECENTLY THE LED STREET LIGJTS HOUSE IS VORNER DITE FOR ISY MAIN AND 8TH CROSS SFTER TEPLACING LED THE TOTAL AREA HAS BECOME TOTAL DARKNESS. THIS WILL LEED TO FIELD DAY FOR MOTOR CYCLE BORNE CHAIN DNATCHERS AND HOUSE THEFTS. SO WITH THIS NEW LED STREET LIGHTS THE CRIME RATE IN MYSORE DEFINEYLY GOING TO INCREASE. THE SAME MCC IS SILENT ON REVERSAL OF TAX ON OPEN SITES. WHY?
IT IS BETTER NOT TO HAVE STREET LIGJTS AT ALL WHICH SAVES MCC, ‘s CRIRES IF TAX PAYERS MONEY. THIS US ABSOLUTELY A VERY WRONG IDEA.
use LED tubelight, 4 feet standard size
The term ‘fake news’ was coined exactly for this kind of reporting I.e Spreading the views of underinformed members of the public to underinformed netizens.
The wattage of the led bulb should be a secondary issue, the main criteria should have been the lumen(unit of brightness)of the bulb, which should be compared and should be maintained by the company
Dont they test before ?!
The concerned watse the taxed money so easy..
Diffusing LED light properly is most important. If after that light becomes dim, wattage needs do increase. Currently this clearly seem like Diffusing issue. It’s rubbish when someone says LED lights are not good for streets when they are best, long lasting and don’t attract insects as they are not polarised like CFL, etc
The photo shows a well lit Road: why do we have to move to led lighting ? Mainly to reduce carbon emissions and resulting Climate Change and Global Warming. How ?
Electricity is generated mostly using fossil fuels. Carbon emissions from fossil fuels is a major reason for Climate Change… The less we use fossil fuel the less Is Carbon Emission…
Bright LED modules do give sharp light bit are harsh for the eyes that are hit by direct ir indirect beams. The panel should be crescent shaper for a wider angle of dispersion avoiding the penumbra on edges. Better to have alternating rows of white day and warm yellow of LEDs of atleast 40 watts at standard recommended distances.
Warmer and higher wattage lights can solve the issue easily. When selecting the led bulbs, they need to make sure they match the lumens (measurements of brightness) required. LED is more energy efficient and the whole world is doing the same without any issue in lighting streets and homes.
There is fundamental mistake. With mercury lights or incandescent bulbs, the reflectors used to concave. With LED lights they should be convex so the light will spread better
@Amar Akbar Anthony
Your city is in the third world and will always look dark!
LED street lighting are going to be implemented across cities in Karnataka, which is a good initiative, however the standards followed are not in line wrt to spread of light and the intensity. There is substantial amount of power savings which is good. The technical aspect wrt to wattage and angle of hood has to be relooked to match the shadowless spread and no of light poles may have to be increased
Also it’s observed that lights are ON during mornings for quite a long time . When we say it’s power savings an auto timer should be installed so that manual intervention is avoided
Illumination of led light is measured in Lumens
Best quality of LED’s have brightness of 150 lumens per watt. CORVI Led lights are only option in india with a replacement warrantt of 5 years. In short Corvi brand led street lights are 1.5 times more brighter compare to any Indian brands. Same power consumption but 1.5 times more illuminitive may be used. Yellow or sodium vapour shade is also availabe with Corvi led manufacturers. Let wisdom prevail.
The main reason the LED lights are not working is because they are So High in the air. The bulbs should be at a height of 4-5 metres from the road to give optimum illumination. But in the quest to deter thieves, the bulb height was increased. That leads to less light reaching the base so the lights turn out ineffective. Led lights are not that costly so that scoat saving can be used to make the casing stronger and more resistant to theft.