Delhi Mukhyamantri Streetlights Yojna

Ensuring the safety and security of its residents is the primary obligation of the State. Adequate street lighting is a tool to counter unsafe vehicular and pedestrian traffic as well as to prevent street crimes. In the Women's Safety Audit of Delhi conducted by the NGO Safetipin, it was found that street lighting has the maximum impact on the perception of safety. The Delhi Government identified 2000 dark spots and undertook a project to illuminate these areas. However, due to jurisdictional issues with other civic bodies, several spots in Delhi remained poorly or dimly lit.

Key Features of the Scheme

The multiplicity of civic body permissions/ NOCs and lack of space to set up new electricity poles for street lights were identified as the biggest challenges. In order to tactfully address these issues, the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) undertook a comprehensive study of international street infrastructure and design. Based on this study, an innovative model to set up streetlights was devised. The key features of the model are:

• Building owners can volunteer to set up LED streetlights on the edge of the premises through a simple process
   
• These LED streetlights will be powered by the electricity made available from the premises of the volunteering owner
   
• Since the LED streetlights will be powered from the building owner's electricity connection, the amount added to consumers' respective power bills for the operation of these lights will be deducted through an automated arrangement
   
• Automatic LED lights with sensors would be installed, which would turn on during the evening and turn off at sunrise.
   

While local MLAs and the Government identify dark spots, the residents of Delhi can also nominate any dark spots under the Scheme.

The Delhi government has installed over 117,000 LED streetlights across the city until August 2021. DDC continues to provide technical and knowledge support for the implementation of the Scheme with the eventual goal of installing 2,10,000 streetlights covering all the dark spots of Delhi.