Shimla, Jan 1 (Inditop.com) The Municipal Corporation of Shimla has started installing energy-saving streetlights in the city, an official said Friday.

“We are installing LED (light emitting diodes) streetlights in Shimla to save power. Initially, the lights were installed around Town Hall (housing the corporation office on the historic Ridge),” Shimla’s Assistant Municipal Commissioner K.K. Sharma told Inditop.

He said 214 conventional streetlight points on the Mall, the pedestrian street between Chhota Shimla and Boileauganj, and from Scandal Point to Sanjauli would be replaced by LED fixtures.

“As many as 130 additional energy-efficient light points would be installed in various locations of the city. The entire replacement process would be completed by March this year,” the official said.

A Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board official said the power-saving streetlights have been financially supported by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

He said with the installation of new lights, the government is expected to save energy worth Rs.15-20 lakh per annum.

The ‘Queen of Hills’, as Shimla was fondly called by the British, was the summer capital of British India. Some of the monuments and buildings constructed by them in typical Tudor style – all wooden frames and shingled eaves – are still in existence.

More than 60 years after the British left, this Himalayan town still attracts their descendants who are eager to know their roots.