All local self-govt bodies in state should be part of Nilav plan: Kerala CM

All local self-government bodies in the state should be part of the 'Nilav' project to replace filament bulbs in street lights in Kerala with the energy-efficient LEDs, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.

The local bodies should either achieve the objective as part of the Nilav plan or on their own and the Minister of Local Self Government Department should convene a meeting of all authorities concerned in this regard, Vijayan said in a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

The decision that all local self-government bodies should be part of the Nilav plan was taken in a meeting held to review the project, the release said.

The intention behind the project is to replace 10.5 lakh conventional street lights in the state with LED lamps with two lakh bulbs being replaced with LEDs in the first phase and 8.5 lakh in the second phase, the release said.

The Electricity Board would act as the special purpose vehicle for the project and the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd would be handling the project management, it said.

The project is being implemented in 573 Gram Panchayats and 65 Municipal Corporations initially.

LED lights under the Nilav scheme would come with a warranty of seven years and if any become unusable during this period, they are to be replaced within 48 hours, was another decision taken in the meeting according to the release.

The CM gave strict instructions that Energy Efficiency Services Ltd should intervene to resolve complaints regarding unusable LEDs within a maximum of one week.

The direction was given as local self-governing bodies have been complaining about the delay in replacing the unusable lamps, the release said.

The CM also directed, at the meeting, that the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self-Government Department, KSEB Chairman, KIIFB CEO, etc. should get together to discuss and resolve the existing complaints and concerns, it said.