BBMP to say no to new high mast lights

BANGALORE: With the State suffering from acute power shortage, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is going all out to cut power consumption. The civic agency is now planning to not install new high-mast lights at traffic signals and circles.To give a cosmetic uplift to the city, the agency installed traffic signals on major roads as well as smaller roads and then fixed high-mast lights along with ornamental lights. “At present, there are more than 1,500 junctions, which have high-mast lights. These lights consume more power,” said an official from the Electrical Engineering Division of the Civic Agency.According to an official, the high-mast lights placed at smaller junctions consume 250 Watts; while the ones at the bigger junctions consume 400 Watts. “In many of these junctions, where street lights are sufficient for the road users to commute, the high-mast lights are burning for long hours. High mast lights, in many cases, just serve as ornamental lights,” said the official.Clarifying about the plan to phase out the lights, officials said that they were not planning to stop using existing high mast lights. However, they said that BBMP will be not be issuing permission for installing high mast lights at other junctions.Blaming local corporators for the current number of high mast lights, officials said that the corporators would want to install one in their ward to make their ward “bright”. “Corporators should stop intervening. Ultimately, power consumption will be reduced,” an official said.