Vellore and Tiruvannamalai get three thousand new LED street lights for monsoon safety

New Lights

Vellore and Tiruvannamalai will soon add three thousand new LED street lights to keep people safe at night during the Northeast monsoon. Officials from both city offices held joint planning talks with the power board, revenue office, police, and local housing groups. Vellore Commissioner A. Catherine Saranya and Tiruvannamalai Commissioner K. Balasubramanian led these local meetings.

Fixing Power Dangers

People living in these areas had complained about snapped power cables and loose wires hanging down during strong monsoon winds. City leaders asked the electricity board to set up an independent power line from local transformers just for street lamps so the lights stay on even when storms cause power cuts. Vellore currently runs 31,714 LED lights and 124 high mast lamps, while Tiruvannamalai runs 13,700 street lights and 50 high mast lamps. About twenty percent of these lights run on solar power, and each city spends roughly thirty lakh rupees monthly on electricity bills.

Where They Go

New LED units will mostly come up in newly expanded town zones. In Vellore, areas like Alamelumangapuram, Rangapuram near the Collectorate Office, Ariyur, and Sripuram receive the new lamps. In Tiruvannamalai, the lights go up across all 18 villages along the 14-kilometer Girivalam Path that recently joined the city limits. A local resident named R. Padma noted that better lighting helps stop trouble-makers and stray dogs while keeping people safe from electric shocks in the rain. Every pole will stand eight metres tall with a gap of thirty metres between poles, carrying strong 90-volt bulbs on main roads. The district administration will pay twenty-six crore rupees for the entire project from its Road Safety Fund.

Context

Local governments often upgrade street lighting ahead of the rainy season to prevent accidents caused by heavy winds and waterlogging. Rural and newly merged urban areas typically face dark stretches during heavy weather, making infrastructure upgrades a priority for local civic bodies.