Smart streetlights may soon become reality in Ludhiana

Ludhiana: The officials of Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada) are planning to install sensor-based streetlights in areas under its jurisdiction for better vision at night and automatic turning off and on. The officials are also planning to link these streetlights to a mobile application to be able to have operational control from a common point.
These sensor-enabled smart lights will remain turned off during the day and switch on automatically as it starts to get dark.
Glada is maintaining civic amenities in many localities including Dugri Urban Estate Phase III, Sectors 32 A, 33, 39 A and 40. The development body also plans to install these streetlights along an under-construction road in Dugri after getting an approval from the government. In another smart function, these lights will be able to manage brightness according to the traffic flow. The lights will brighten up during heavy traffic and do dim on thin vehicular movement.
Earlier, Glada had installed solar panels at its office which are functioning well at present. The officials believe that smart street lights would be beneficial commuters and also save a lot of energy.
As per sources, the development body officials are yet to receive government’s approval on the project, and due to election code of conduct in the state ahead of the Panchayat elections, they will have to wait for some time.
Glada sub-divisional engineer Suraj Manchanda said, “The plan has been forwarded to the state government for approval. As soon as we will get a positive reply, we will conduct a trial of 500-600 streetlights. If the exercise bears fruit, these streetlights will be at all localities falling in Glada’s limits.”
Meanwhile, residents have hailed the decision stating that even the MC should implement such steps. Harvinder Singh, a resident of Dugri, said, “Non-functional traffic lights are a major cause of concern among city residents at a time when so many late-night crimes are being reported in the city. When the streetlights do not function properly in particular areas, snatchers make optimum use of the situation.” He added that there should be a provision of automatically controlling the streetlights in the city.