Berhampur: In order to reduce electricity bills and ensure better illumination in the city, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to install LED bulbs in all lightposts under its jurisdiction.
The civic body signed an agreement with a private firm to complete the work in one year, a report said.
While the survey would be completed by December end, the process of replacement of bulbs would begin from January, BMC sources said.
According to reports, there are 10,000 street lights in the Silk City including 19 of 400 watt and 250 watt himax lamps. BMC pays about Rs 2 crore as electricity bill every year.
The state government had roped in a private agency in July 2016 to replace the old bulbs with LED bulbs to trim electricity charges and for the beautification of the cities like Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur. The agreement had a validity of seven years.
According to the agreement, the firm was to replace 10,000 bulbs in Berhampur and 80 per cent of the expenses were to be borne by the government.
As per the agreement, the survey for installation of LED bulbs would be completed by December end, a firm official said.
With the replacement of new bulbs with LED ones, the BMC can save nearly 70 per cent of its electricity bills, assistant executive engineer Sukanta Sabat said. The company has deposited a security deposit of Rs 2 lakh to execute the order, Sabat added.PNN