Greater Noida: GNIDA to set up centralised monitoring system to maintain streetlights

GREATER NOIDA: The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has decided to set up a centralised monitoring system to maintain streetlights in the city. Under the new system, for which Rs 74 crore has been earmarked, lights would be added along streets and defunct ones replaced without any delay.

The new system will also allow the authority officials to view the status of a light — whether it is defunct or not — on a dashboard. The move will fast-track the process of repairing lights. As of now, faults in streetlights are attended to only after residents lodge complaints. Dark stretches in Greater Noida have been a cause for concern among residents returning home at night and have been prone to crime over the past few years. The entire city is covered by 69,000 streetlights.

Narendra Bhooshan, the chief executive officer of GNIDA, said the network of lights would be visible on a map. “Residents will be able to see the number of lights that have been repaired along with the date and time. This will help us improve our urban services. We will also get the energy data report from each locality and residential block and will be able to plan our resources better,” he added. The status of a complaint will be shared with the resident concerned via text message.

Earlier this week, the authority had floated tenders and sought responses from interested companies. Officials said that by the end of the year, all lights would be linked and brought under the system. The company given the contract to maintain the lights would have to operate the system for the next seven years.

Residents backed the move. “I have seen the GIS-based dashboard of the authority, which is now open for residents. It has a lot of information on utilities and services. In the future, all urban services should be linked with technology. I welcome this move,” said Nitin Srivastava (35), a resident of Zeta 1.