As a part of ‘Bright City Campaign’, modern street lights have been installed along the Gwarko-Imadol-Sanagaon-Lubhu-Lamatar road section of Lalitpur district.

A total of 357 smart street lights have been installed on either side of the road at a distance of about 5 kilometres. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Mahalaxmi Municipality, Lalitpur, have shared the cost of the installation.

Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising and Mayor of Mahalaxmi Municipality Hari Govinda Shrestha jointly inaugurated the installed street lights at a special function held at Imadol in Lalitpur on Thursday.

On the occasion, Ghising said that under the ‘Ujyalo Nepal’ programme, the electrification campaign which is currently underway across the country to provide electricity to every household will be completed in about two years.

Stating that electricity is being supplied from Lagankhel substation to Mahalaxmi Municipality area and complaints are received from consumers about tripping when the line is long, Ghising said that the process of building the substation in Sirutar has progressed to resolve power tripping problems in that area.

He said, “Internally, the system is being improved to increase electricity consumption. We are investing a lot in this. If land is provided by the municipality, we will also establish an electric charging station in the Lubhu area.”

Mayor Shrestha said that the lights installed on the main road will enhance the beauty of the city as well as make the journey on the road safer.

He said that the road lighting programme is going to be expanded further.

In partnership with the Authority and Mahalaxmi Municipality, a contract was signed for Rs. 21.6 million for the installation of the street lights.

Out of the total cost, the Authority has shared the cost of Rs. 8.6 million and the municipality Rs. 13 million.

A total of 62 new poles have been installed to hold the lights, while the rest of the poles on the roadside have been used.

The 90-watt lights that consume less electricity but give more light have been installed.

The municipality will pay the tariff for the street lights.

The smart light can be controlled automatically from the feeder panel in the Authority’s system. For this, the feeder panels have been installed at five places. The smart light is directly connected to the Authority’s server, said the NEA.

There is an automatic system of turning on the light when it is dark and turning it off when it is bright.

Billing of electricity tariff is done through the software. Monitoring whether the lights are on or off can also be done through the software.

The maintenance of the installed lights will be done by the construction company for five years.

The Authority is installing smart lights on the main roads, historical cultural heritages listed in the World Heritage Sites and tourist destination places in coordination and partnership with the municipalities under the ‘Bright City Campaign’.