The installed LED lights on Courtpeta to Bhabanagar stretch in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, July 14: The municipal corporation will replace the street lights with light-emitting diode (LED) to save power in the city.

Assistant engineer Sukant Kumar Sabat said the Berhampur Municipal Corporation had installed 25 LED lights on the main road from Courtpeta to Bhabanagar, a 1-km stretch.

“We are planning to install LED lights on the stretch from Bhabanagar to Gate Bazar, Engineering School to Ambapua (3km) and on the Haldiapadar railway overbridge shortly. In the first phase, we will cover the main roads, and later, we will move to the interior stretches,” he said.

Installation of LED lights is part of the corporation’s ongoing illumination drive at an estimated cost of Rs 2.50 crore. The government had sanctioned Rs 1.30 crore for the purpose, he said.

An LED is called a “solid-state lighting” (SSL) technology. Instead of emitting light from a vacuum (as in an incandescent bulb) or a gas (as in a CFL), an SSL emits light from a piece of solid matter. In case of a traditional LED, that piece of matter is a semi-conductor. “LED bulbs that emit light are equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent light bulb. We are having 60 LED lights in one fittings, and it is enough to light the streets,” Sabat said.

“We will spend less on its maintenance charges. The power bill, therefore, will be reduced,” Sabat said.

The corporation pays Rs 16 lakh every month towards electricity charges for street lights, including five high-mast lights. Power charges will be reduced by half after the LED lights are installed, Sabat said.

The city has 8,000 street lights, including 3,800 sodium vapour lights which were introduced in 1993. The rate of one fittings of an LED light is about Rs 40,000 compared to sodium vapour lights that cost Rs 10,000. But, the LED emits triple the lights of the sodium vapour, he said.

Shanti Nagar resident Pratima Mandal hailed the civic body’s attempt to install the LED lights. “It’s a good beginning. Enough light on streets is a must, especially for women passers by. These lights must be installed in every corner in this city,” she said.