Come Wednesday next, the famous Central Vista of the national capital will not be the same any more. The present famed special lighting on eight select days in a year and a few hour every night façade lighting of the icononic North and South Block buildings, a visual treat over the years,  will move from being static to dynamic, offering an entirely a new further enhanced aesthetic experience. The new dynamic façade lighting over an area of 21,450 sq.mtrs has the potential to present an amazing 16 million colour combinations, displaying a wide range of patterns and themes during the night time with colours changing every few seconds.

            Installed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), an attached organization of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, the new dynamic façade lighting of the two famed buildings will be switched on by Shri Mahipal Singh, the senior most support staff (Multi Tasking Staff) of the Ministry of Home, housed in the North Block on Wednesday next at 6.30 am. The new lighting system will be on show for the benefit of media and the people of Delhi.

            The new lighting will be on show from 7.00 pm to 5.00 am all through the year with full capacity prime time lighting from 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm. With inherent dimming facility, the electrical load will be 25% during 7.00-7.30 pm and 10.00 pm to 5.00 am while the load will be 50% during the remainder of the night.

            The entire network of new dynamic lighting using the state of the art RGB LED technology with 40 kms of unified power and data cabling has central computerized control with automated selection of colour combinations, with selection of timing, dimming and switching on and off facility, individual and combined control of light fittings etc through Ethernet based controller.

            It is capable of providing both volume and focus lighting to highlight the architectural features of the historical buildings, a fine blend of the traditional Indian and British architectue, further enhancing the grandeur, treating the visitors to a new feast of colours. The frontal façade, loggia, central dome, flag posts etc., will be highlighted by the new lighting using narrow, medium and wide degree beam angles as required. The light fittings have external lenses to enable change of beam angles as per site requirement. It has an inherent capability and versatility for choosing different colour themes and schemes on special occasions.

            The new dynamic façade lighting has a multitude of advantages over the present conventional special lighting on show on special occasions like the Independence Day and the Republic Day and some national festivals and façade lighting. New The lights and fixtures are more durable, cost effective, energy efficient and environment friendly. The present lighting covers an area of 16,750 sq.mtres.

            The annual saving on account of new lighting of 21,450 sq.mtres of façade area in respect of replacement, maintenance and operation cost will be Rs.86.40 lakhs.  The life of the new LED light fittings is over one lakh burning hours, coming to about 25 years as against only 10,000 burning hours for the existing. Energy consumption by the present limited conventional lighting using LED, Metal Halide and Sodium Vapour light fittings is Rs.17.00 lakhs per year, double that of the extended year round new dynamic lighting with an energy consumption of only Rs.8.40 lakhs per year.

            All new light fittings are dust, vermin and moisture proof with outdoor weather protection of the highest order (IP-66) with robust design. It also conforms to the most stringent international regulatory framework of environmental and technical parameters (RoHS, UL and CE). It will not have any effect on the sand stone structures of the North and South Block buildings.

            Care has been taken to protect the heritage character of these famed buildings. All light fittings are outdoor and placed either on the ground in front lawns or on roof top.

            CPWD that has put in extensive efforts towards conceptualization, designing and execution  informed the Ministry that the initial investment of Rs.15.40 cr for the new lighting will be recovered in just 6 to 7 years and thereafter the system becoming virtually free of cost as against the costs being incurred every year now.

            Under the present lighting system, fifty thousand three watt LED bulbs in strings nailed on the walls of the iconic buildings are being used for special lighting on eight occasions in a year besides 170 lamps of 400 MW/250 MW Metal Halide and Sodium Vapour for façade lighting and 72 LED lights for security lighting. The new dynamic lighting system with 800 fittings will do away with all of these.

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AAR/KM