Vijayawada: Asserting that Andhra Pradesh was leading the new revolution of LED streetlighting in the country and had been taking all efforts to make every home and every village energy efficient, Chief Minister Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials to take all necessary steps to complete 100 per cent retrofit of street lights with LEDs in all villages in the state by Sankranti (2019).
In a teleconference with the energy and panchayat raj departments in view of the collector’s conference scheduled on November 30, the Chief Minister said that the government was working with the objective of creating a world record in LED street lighting by completing the installation of around 27 lakh lights by Sankranti.
“My first priority is to improve the living standards and better the livelihood of people in villages. I wish all the streets in rural areas illuminate with LED lighting during the Sankranti festival,” he said.
Stating that AP had initiated the new LED revolution in the country by starting the LED programme in Visakhapatnam after the Hudhud cyclone, Mr Naidu said, “We are the champions at the national level by completing the street lighting project in more than 50 per cent of the villages in the state. We have created a record by completing the LED streetlighting programme in six districts — East Godavari, West Godavari, Vizianagaram, Chittoor, Kadapa and Ananthapuram. I appreciate the panchayat raj, municipal administration and energy departments for scaling up the LED programme,” he said.
Minister for IT, panchayat raj and rural development, Nara Lokesh said that AP stood as the front runner state with 33 per cent of LED streetlights in the national LED map (both urban and rural) followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi.
Andhra Pradesh alone has retrofitted 18.81 lakh LED streetlights in the villages till date while all the other states in the country have altogether installed just 9,000 lights and that too only in rural areas.
“The LED programme will not only give energy and economic savings, but also change the appearance of villages and lead to brighter streets, enhancing the feeling of safety and security among residents, eventually giving people a better quality of life,” Mr Lokesh said.
Stating the LED streetlighting programme was a boon for the economic development of the state, Chief Secretary, Anil Chandra Punetha, said it had helped reduce electricity bills for local bodies.
