Women’s safety, Rs 100-crore savings in focus, Delhi to install 1 lakh smart street lights

With an aim to cover dark spots, improve women’s safety in the Capital and reduce energy consumption, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday launched a project to install one lakh smart LED street lights across the city under the government’s Seva Sankalp Abhiyan to mark 25 years of public service by PM Narendra Modi.

The project follows concerns raised by women students during Gupta’s recent interaction at Delhi University, where they highlighted inadequate street lighting and dark spots in several parts of the city.

Under the initiative, which has been initiated from Andrews Ganj bus stop in South Delhi,  around one lakh street lights will be replaced with smart LED lights, including approximately 45,000 high-pressure sodium vapour lamps. The system will feature smart feeder pillars and individual monitoring to improve efficiency and maintenance.

The Public Works Department (PWD) will monitor the lights through a central command centre, which will receive real-time information on their operational status. The project targets 99% functionality, with faulty lights required to be repaired within 48 hours of a complaint. Agencies failing to meet the deadline will face a penalty of Rs 2,000 per light per day.

Each light will carry a QR code that citizens can scan to access information and register complaints. Smart scheduling will automatically increase illumination in the evening and reduce it in the morning to save electricity. The government projects savings of around Rs 100 crore over five years.

The project also aims to maintain average illumination levels of 35 lux on main roads and 25 lux on service roads for seven years. The lights will have a colour temperature of 3,000 kelvin and a minimum luminous efficacy of 150 lumens per watt.(One lux is the standard International System of Units measure of illuminance, defined as one lumen of luminous flux evenly spread across an area of one square meter).

Gupta said the initiative was a step towards a safer Delhi in line with PM Modi’s vision of a developed India. She said the government was committed to improving public services through technology, transparency and accountability.

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PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said the project would improve visibility on roads and public spaces, making night-time travel safer. He added that monitoring and timely repairs would be key to maintaining the system.