Delhi smart street lights will be installed across the city under a government project aimed at reducing dark spots, improving women’s safety and cutting electricity consumption, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Thursday. The initiative, launched from the Andrews Ganj bus stop in South Delhi, will replace around one lakh existing street lights with smart LED systems.
The project has been announced under the government’s Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, marking 25 years of public service by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It follows concerns raised by women students during Gupta’s recent interaction at Delhi University, where they pointed to inadequate lighting and dark spots in several parts of the Capital.
Around 45,000 high-pressure sodium vapour lamps are expected to be replaced as part of the project. The new system will include smart feeder pillars and individual monitoring for each light. The Public Works Department will track the network through a central command centre receiving real-time information on whether lights are operational.
The government has set a target of keeping 99% of the lights functional. Faulty units will have to be repaired within 48 hours of a complaint, while 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 residents can scan to access information and register complaints.
The system will also use automated scheduling to increase illumination during the evening and reduce it in the morning. The government estimates that this will help save around Rs 100 crore over five years. The project is intended 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. Lux is the standard measure of illuminance, representing one lumen of light spread evenly over an area of one square metre.
Gupta said the initiative was intended to support a safer Delhi and improve public services through technology, transparency and accountability. Public Works Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said better visibility on roads and public spaces would make night-time travel safer, adding that monitoring and timely repairs would be essential to maintaining the system. The PWD’s central command centre, complaint-response system and agency penalties will determine how the announced service standards are implemented across the city.
