Nepal

The Nepal Electricity Authority has installed ‘smart’ street lamps along the Koteshwor-Suryabinayak road section in Bhaktapur. 

The installation work has been carried out per the authority’s objective of developing an ‘illuminated town’ under its social responsibility.

The authority has installed 450 lamps, each with a 120-watt capacity, on median strips, and traffic islands. The installed lights are directly connected to NEA’s servers, according to the state utility. Once linked, the administrator has the ability to switch on and off the smart lights. Besides, the NEA can monitor power use and request tariffs without any manual intervention. It saves time and requires less manpower.

Three local governments – the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the Madhyapur Thimi Municipality and the Bhaktapur Municipality – have pledged to pay the electricity tariff for power consumed in their respective areas. 

“The installation of smart lamps aims to make night travel safe and enhance the urban beauty,” NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising said. “For some localities, the respective local government will contribute 60 per cent and the NEA will rest bear the rest of the installation cost.” - RSS