Davanagere: Davanagere City Corporation’s switch from conventional streetlights to LED lamps has delivered substantial savings in both energy and money. Implemented under a public-private partnership model, the project has helped the civic body cut electricity consumption by 52.8% and save nearly Rs 42 lakh every month on power bills.The zero-investment project was revived under the Smart City initiative after an earlier proposal in 2010-11 failed to take off. The corporation eventually implemented it using provisions under the Centre’s AMRUT scheme aimed at promoting energy conservation.Annapoorna Agency, which bagged the contract in 2019, completed installation in Aug 2023. The corporation pays the agency Rs 31 lakh per month for seven years, using savings generated through lower electricity bills and maintenance costs.Before the LED conversion, Davanagere had 21,205 streetlights, including 18,552 conventional tube lights and sodium vapour lamps. These consumed between 15 and 300 watts each, while high-mast lights required even more power for adequate illumination. Consequently, the corporation’s monthly electricity bill averaged Rs 87 lakh, while maintenance expenses added another Rs 15 lakh.Today, the city has 31,512 LED streetlights with capacities ranging from 15 to 100 watts. Despite the sharp increase in the number of lights, the monthly electricity bill has dropped to around Rs 45 lakh. Maintenance expenditure has also been eliminated, further easing the corporation’s financial burden.“The project has also helped control light pollution. Earlier, conventional lamps emitted excessive glare, illuminating areas beyond the intended range and disturbing nearby homes. LED lights now focus illumination only where required, reducing unnecessary brightness and glare visible from long distances,” said Udayakumar MH, executive engineer, Davanagere City Corporation.He said another key feature of the project is the Centralised Control and Monitoring System, which allows the corporation to track power consumption, meter readings and Bescom charges. The system also enables automatic switching of streetlights.Earlier, staff had to manually operate 1,066 switching points across the city. If the process began at 6pm, it could take up to two hours to switch on all the lights. Under the automated system, streetlights now come on at 6.30pm and switch off at 6.15am, with timings adjusted according to sunrise and sunset.
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