The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) B ward has installed 40 torch-like solar powered bulbs imported from Taiwan in Sitaram Shenoy Garden near Sandhurst Road.
The bulb is covered with a net with solar plate and battery. "There is no running cost of this bulb and whatever is invested now will be recovered over a period of time," said Udaykumar Shiroorkar, assistant commissioner of B ward.
Shiroorkar said that the bulb will illuminate automatically after dawn. "There is no need to switch it on or off. It illuminates for six to seven hours after day-long charge in the sun light," he said.
The bulb looks like a burning torch after it is lit. "The number of visitors has increased after the bulbs were installed," said a staff member who maintains the garden. Shiroorkar added that the solar bulbs have been installed on a pilot basis and will be used at other places as well if successfuly.
The B ward has been coming up with several innovative ways to save the environment. In August last year, it became the first ecofriendly ward office building after setting up solar panels on its terrace, rainwater harvesting system and changing all tubelights to LED bulbs. The solar panel on its terrace provides energy to light up the office premises and also helps to save Rs 4.5 lakh annually in electricity bills.
Sachin Jadhav, sub engineer (Electrical) of B ward said that the bulbs are not available in the market, "We studied about the benefit and look and then we imported them."
