Delhi govt installed 117k new streetlights in two years
Data submitted by the state power department to the Delhi assembly showed that until last month 117,314 streetlights were installed under the scheme.
The Delhi government has installed over half of the intended 210,000 LED streetlights across the city under the “Mukhyamantri Street Light” scheme announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in September, 2019, as part of the government’s larger plan to address concerns regarding the safety of women in the Capital.
Data submitted by the state power department to the Delhi assembly showed that until last month 117,314 streetlights were installed under the scheme. The Delhi government has outsourced the task to the three private power distribution companies in the city, each of which are supposed to set up at least 70,000 streetlights in the areas under their jurisdiction.
In 2019, a survey commissioned by the Delhi government found that Delhi had at least 2,000 dark spots, mostly in unauthorised colonies, regularised colonies, villages, slum clusters and markets. No fresh survey has been conducted since then to ascertain if the number of such spots has been reduced as a result of new streetlights.
Reports showed that north and northwest Delhi areas got the highest number of streetlights, where Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) installed 68,121 streetlights. “We have nearly completed our target of setting up and energising 70,000 streetlights. With this, areas under TPDDL, primarily north and parts of west Delhi, have the least dark spots, ensuring a safe travel experience for pedestrians and motorists,” said a TPDDL spokesperson.
BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), which provides power to south and west Delhi, installed 30,080 streetlights, and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) managed to set up only 19,113 street lights so far. BYPL supplies power to east and central Delhi.
When asked about the slower pace of installation in these areas, the power department, in its written reply to the assembly, stated that the urban development department is yet to release the remaining funds to the discoms for the scheme because of which the work is currently not being expedited.
“So far, the department has approved ₹45 crore for streetlights due to which around 117,000 of them could be installed. More funds are in the process of being approved,” said a senior official of the state urban development department.
Under the project, each of Delhi’s 70 assembly constituencies is supposed to get 3,000 such streetlights. An official from the power department said the remaining LED lights will be installed by the end of this year. “At least 90,000 more LED streetlights will be installed by the end of this year, ensuring that each assembly constituency gets 3,000 of them. Lights ranging between 20 and 40 watts are installed as part of this programme. These lights have sensors and turn off automatically in daylight. They usually come with a five-year guarantee,” the official said.
The 210,000 streetlights are over and above the 700,000-odd street lights set up on electric poles that are currently functional in the city. Under the scheme, lights are installed outside residences and on the periphery walls of neighbourhoods. The power bills of the LED streetlights are to be borne by households, which the government then reimburses in their monthly power bills, the official added.