More than 10,000 New Street-lights to be Installed in Vizag

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in its recent announcement has said that the city will be installed with new streetlighting network, particularly in suburban. Work is underway to install 10,800 new streetlights in Vizag, with about 8,500 already in place and the rest in progress. The expansion covers areas such as Gajuwaka, Bheemili, and Pendurthi.

Officials point out that the main reason for recurring breakdowns is damage to underground cables and problems with three-phase connectivity. To tackle this, the corporation has taken up the replacement of all damaged underground cables to ensure reliability in the system. GVMC Mayor P. Srinivasa Rao noted that Visakhapatnam currently has 1.18 lakh streetlights and the addition of 10,800 more, at a cost of around Rs 6.52 crore, will significantly expand coverage.

Alongside this, the civic body is replacing 77.92 kilometres of faulty underground cables with new ones, estimated at Rs 10 crore. Of this, 58.03 kilometres have already been completed, while work on the remaining 19.89 kilometres is ongoing. GVMC also plans to phase out low-wattage lights across the city to improve brightness and efficiency.

The coastal climate of Visakhapatnam, with its high salt content and corrosive air, has worsened the wear and tear of the lighting infrastructure. Officials note that spare part demand for the system is currently at 3%, nearly double the industry standard of 1.5%. A previous analysis by GVMC had flagged several challenges, including ageing bulbs, cabling problems, and damage caused by the city’s harsh climatic conditions.

In addition, power lines that run under tree branches often lead to outages during heavy rains, damaging lights, centralised control panels, and causing frequent tripping of MCBs. Loose cable spans have also triggered dangerous 440V surges, damaging equipment and creating safety hazards.

With the installations of new streetlights and infrastructure upgrades, long-standing problems such as road safety and convenience is set to improve the overall quality of life in Vizag.

Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city and news updates.