The Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) project to replace 40,400 street lights with LED lights in the Kochi Corporation area has run into rough weather on several roads, mainly due to problems associated with faulty power cables, it is learnt.
The ₹40-crore project was expected to less than halve the monthly energy expense of the Corporation. Already, many arterial and side roads that were either ill-lit or had dysfunctional lights are much better lit now, thanks to the installation of sleek LED lights that emit more than double the lumen of light. The 150-lumen street lights on arterial roads have five-star energy rating.
But there are teething problems in the form of snapped power cables and run-down or missing electric posts, which is quite evident, including on the Edappally-Aroor bypass, sources said. Many lights on the Chakkaraparambu-Vyttila stretch of the corridor and other roads are dysfunctional, as a result.
