The KMC has approximately 1,30,000 lampposts in the city and has to shell out nearly Rs 30 crore for their maintenance. The timer-based system for automated streetlights will be energy-efficient and save a large amount of electricity.

The bill can be curtailed to a large extent if the lights are switched off timely. In many areas, including B B Ganguly Street, Rashbehari Avenue and Park Circus connector, streetlights remain switched on even during the daytime. Though there are KMC workers to operate the lights in all the wards, these lights are not regulated manually, resulting in a huge power bill.

"The lamppost will have a computerised timer and an automatic switch. A particular time will be set for switching the lights on and off and the automatic switch will work accordingly," said Sushil Shrama, MMiC, Electricity and Lighting. "We are expecting that the installation of the timer and the automatic switch will be over by the end of this year," added Sharma.

The civic lighting department is mulling the introduction of dim lights at office areas of the city, which do not require powerful streetlight. "The project is in the preliminary stage. We are yet to float the tender," said Pradip Jyoti Biswas, Director General, Lighting and Electricity.