A wide range of dynamic themes with 16 million colour combinations lit up the Raisina Hills two iconic buildings – North Block and the South Block Wednesday evening. The iconic buildings were lit by the oldest employee of the government Mr Mahipal Singh.
“He is from Uttarakhand and has served the government for 42 years. He switched on the lights,” a senior ministry explained.
“The system 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 architecture,” he added.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan lights would start functioning within next the next three months.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman attended the inauguration of the new lighting system.
The lighting system, which is equipped with dimming feature to reduce the electrical load, will be on between 7pm and 5am with colours changing every few seconds.
At present, these buildings are illuminated on Republic and Independence Days with static lighting. This system covers an area of 16,750 square metres.
The new dynamic facade lighting, which will cover an area of 21,450 square metres, will mesmerise the visitors with full-capacity lighting between 8 pm to 9 pm.
The annual saving on account of new lighting with respect to replacement, maintenance and operation costs will be Rs. 86.40 lakh.
The life of the new LED light fittings is expected to be over one lakh burning hours, coming to about 25 years as against only 10,000 burning hours for the existing system.
The energy consumption of the new system will cost Rs. 8.40 lakh per year, the official said, adding it would be “much less” as compared to the conventional lighting.
The initial investment of Rs. 15.40 crore for the new system will be recovered in six to seven years as against the costs being incurred every year now, the official said.
The initiative will add the two buildings to the league of other historical sites – like the Eiffel Tower in Paris – which are lit up everyday.
