All 114 Urban Local Bodies in Odisha will have LED street lights
Bhubaneswar,November 09:
The Odisha government Friday decided to provide energy efficient LED light fixtures in all the 114 Urban Local Bodies with an objective to ensure improved public safety and better illumination.
The decision was taken at the state Cabinet meeting here today chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Briefing media after the cabinet meeting Chief Secretary A P Padhi said Odisha is the only state in the country to have 100 per cent urban area covered under the LED lighting.
He said the Energy Efficiency Service Limited , the Central government undertaking will retrofit the existing conventional street lights with LED lights in all ULBs.
The replacement of conventional street lights with LED lights in all the five Municipal corporations and implementation in green field stretches in Bhubanewar would be done in PPP mode through NEESL Pvt Ltd, a private partner.
The Housing and Urban Development department has decided to implement LED street light projects across Greenfield stretches of 113 ULBs except Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation through PPP mode.
The 113 ULBs have been grouped into five clusters covering all the 30 districts of the state.
The works are targeted to be completed within a period of five months and Operation and maintenance period of seven years. The project will benefit around 70 lakh people of the state residing in 113 ULBs.
The total cash outflow over a period of seven years works out to be Rs 326 crore, including the total capital expenditure of Rs 269.83 crore, Operational and Maintenance cost for seven years amounting to Rs 56.42 crore.
Mr Padhi said in the absence of a professional municipal cadre, especially the electrical engineering and technical support staff, the street light has been a neglected area.
He said the roads and streets were found without proper street lighting, bulbs fitted in distribution lines light poles without proper earthling arrangements, proper system for switching on and off the lights, frequent tripping of street lights.
The cabinet decided to set up a central monitoring system to attend to these problems.
In another decision the Cabinet approved the tender for the construction of a 100 seated new government Medical College at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district at a cost of Rs 220.73 crore The work order was given to M/s Tata Projects. The work would be completed within two years without any price escalation.
A decision was also taken for the construction of multi utility complex and PG Students hostels at Sardar Vallav Bhai patel Post graduate Institute of Pediatric, Sishu Bhawan at Cuttack at a cost of Rs 116.92 crore. The project would be completed within two years without any price escalation. BM