<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-lights.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-lights.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-lights.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Representational image (IANS)

In a bid to cut down on carbon emissions, the West Bengal government has decided to retrofit about one lakh smart LED streetlights in municipal corporation areas covering Kolkata and neighbouring Bidhannagar, a senior minister announced on Thursday.

Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Firhad Hakim was speaking at a programme where he dedicated 56,000 LED streetlights, as part of the Green City Mission of the state government, to the people of Durgapur Municipal Corporation area in West Burdwan district and four municipal areas in Bankura, Murshidabad (Beldanga), North 24 Parganas (Kharda) and South 24 Parganas (Budge Budge) districts.

The LED streetlights are being installed by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Power Ministry.

"These 56,000 LED lights will reduce carbon emissions by 8,500 metric tonnes and save electricity of 12.2 million units, annually," Hakim said.

Hakim also urged EESL to ensure speedy replacement of the defective streetlights so as not to inconvenience the people.

"We have decided that approximately one lakh smart LED streetlights will be retrofitted in the areas under Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, " he added

EESL is enhancing the benefits of affordable energy-efficient infrastructure with future-readiness, by connecting the lights to a web-based monitoring system that enables remote operations and additional operational savings, said the company's Director (Projects & Business Development) Venkatesh Dwivedi.

The streetlights will help in reducing energy bills by 30-50 per cent for the urban local bodies and substantially reduce carbon emissions.

Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) with GIS mapping for remote control and monitoring of streetlights are also being installed. In Beldanga the work is already complete, said Dwivedi.

Out of approximately 7.5 lakh streetlights in the state, 3.5 lakh have already been converted to LEDs.