The blackout during the India-Sri Lanka ODI on December 24, 2009 (Telegraph picture)

The four light towers at the new-look the Eden Gardens now have extra cover. Eight generators will provide power to the four light towers, promising to make blackouts — and dark memories — a thing of the past.

The arrangement is that if one of the two massive but silent generators trips, the other will instantly back it up.

Each tower needs to provide 280KWA of power. But the generators — which cost Rs 2 crore each — are powerful enough to produce 380KWA each.

Sources said that work on the new power connections was complete. A final inspection is scheduled for April 9, two days before the first IPL match between the Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers.

Incidentally, the same teams had been facing off in 2008 when Eden witnessed the first blackout.

“This time, the arrangements have been made in such a way that even if one of the generators trips and doesn’t return to life during a match, the other one would be able to bear the load independently,” said Sadhan Mukherjee, who is in charge of lighting at the Eden Gardens. “We could have opted for less powerful sets, but didn’t want to take any chance. The shelf life of each set is around 20 years, and this is the biggest leap that we could possibly have taken.”

Mukherjee added that the back-up system has also been made seamless. “We have also installed auto-synchronous and auto-load sharing panels, wherein the switchover from one electronic circuit to the other is automatic in case of a fault,” he said.

Since the 2008 fiasco, when there were two blackouts, the CAB authorities have struggled to put in place a system that would provide glitch-free lighting during cricket matches.

Amid the preparations, a third blip occurred on December 24, 2009, during an ODI between India and Sri Lanka. The loss of face — the ground was in darkness for 26 minutes after Ashish Nehra had bowled the second ball of the last over before the innings break — triggered the switch to generators as the primary source of power.

The authorities have also ensured a change in the cables from the controls to each tower, and measures to properly maintain each accessory. “The control rooms have been fitted with air-conditioners, so that you would no longer need to cool down their temperature with pedestal fans,” said a CAB officer.

Insiders said the new system had been okayed by experts from Jadavpur University, Bengal Engineering and Science University, L&T and Phillips.

So, what’s the final outcome of these efforts?

“The ICC believes the illumination around the wicket should be at least 2000 vertical lux. With our new arrangement, we will offer 2900 lux,” the official said.