Use of LED bulbs cuts Rs. 3 crore bill to Rs. 70 lakh a month

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) switch over to LED streetlights has turned out to be not just a major energy saver, but expenditure too, with the cut in electricity bill by 68 percent. The monthly electricity bill has reduced to Rs. 70 lakh against the earlier Rs. 3 crore.

The MCC has incorporated self-operated timer system, with the operation and supervision of the lights under Central Control Monitoring System. Under the system, the total of 75,000 streetlights will automatically turn on at 6.30 pm and turn off at 6.30 am in all the 65 wards of the city.

Over 300 streetlights are yet to be brought under the new system, with the switch boards being manually operated. But the switch boards are in a dangerous state with the wires fixed to switch on and off the lights, easily accessible. During evening time, one has to fuse the wires to turn on the light. Any minute error is sure to invite trouble, owing to lack of better system in place.

Even though MCC has entrusted the maintenance of street lights to contractors by calling a special tender, they are ineffective in handling the job. It is due to the negligence of contractors that, the people at some localities turn on and off the lights on their own.

Executive Engineer of MCC Electrical Division T.S. Satyamurthy said “Following the installation of 75,000 LED bulbs across the city, there is a cut in electricity bill. The Central Control Monitoring System is set up at Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW), through which the lights are turned on and off with a self-operating system in place. By deploying this system, we can control the streetlights with the help of software that can be even operated by mobile. The remaining 200 to 300 streetlights will also be brought under the technology soon.”