In a unique initiative, the New Delhi Municipal Council has decided to replace standard street lights with ‘smart poles’ with built-in pollution monitors, Wi-Fi access points, smart LEDs, CCTV cameras and other communication infrastructure. According to the municipal body, these ‘smart poles’ will be operational in the NDMC area very soon. Important centres of government and business in the national capital including Connaught Place, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Sansad Marg, Janpath, Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Barakhamba Road among other areas, will be included in the first phase of the project.
Work has been awarded for 55 smart street light poles which will have a height of 9 to 12 metres. There will be smart LED lights, which can be switched on or off, remotely.
There can be a schedule for these. For example, after midnight some lights can be powered down to 50-60%. We can monitor and decide. There will also be a CCTV camera on every pole and data of these will be stored for a month,” said an NDMC official With installing work in progress, it will take a fortnight to a month for officials to set up the pole with necessary facilities after they erect one. Made of stainless steel, these ‘smart poles’ will have “the facility to host microcells for telecommunication for providing 2G/3G/4G services, and hydraulically operated underground cabinet for hosting telecom equipment and UPS,” say reports.
