Around 20,000 streetlight poles in areas under the jurisdiction of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will soon be replaced with ‘NextGen digital poles’ which will come fitted with CCTV cameras and also facilitate the civic body’s plan to offer free 4G services.
The civic body, which claims that it would be the first-of-its-kind initiative in India, has invited Requests for Proposal (RFP) from companies for this project.
“Earlier, there was a plan for installing CCTV in all areas under NDMC. We were also working towards providing free wi-fi services in areas other than Khan Market and Connaught Place.
And, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for conservation of energy by switching to LED bulbs, I came up with this idea,” NDMC Chairman Jalaj Srivastava told PTI.
The NextGen poles, which have been designed by Srivastava himself, will be fitted with LED bulbs and have CCTV cameras installed in them, will also help provide free 4G wi-fi services.
“We also considered the option of retro-fitting the three upgrades into the existing poles, but that isn’t technically feasible, so the poles will have to be replaced,” he said. Free wi-fi services are generally available only covering certain buildings, so once a person moves out, the connectivity drops. With entire areas becoming free wi-fi zone, the connectivity issues will be resolved, added Srivastava.
NDMC’s ambitious free wi-fi project was launched last year in Khan Market and later in Connaught Place. “With these poles, it (free wi-fi) will be extended to all areas under NDMC and the quality (of the connection) will be better. Visitors to these areas will be able to avail the facility by filling in details such as e-mail ID and mobile number. After that, a one-time password will be received by the user to connect to the Internet,” he said.
The NextGen digital pole project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 200 crore, is likely to be completed in the next four months. “Each pole is likely to cost around Rs 10,000, which takes the total amount to around Rs 200 crore.
We are exploring funding options. We will approach the government too to see if the expenditure can be split,” the NDMC chairman said. After the launch of the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) by Prime Minister Modi earlier this month, NDMC rolled out its ‘Mission Palika Navjyoti’ scheme. The three-level programme aims at achieving the transition to LED lights in households and NDMC buildings and for streetlights.