Chennai: In yet another initiative towards its upgradation, T Nagar is all set to get ‘Smart Poles’ at various locations, with one such facility recently installed in Venkatanarayana Road near Dr Natesan Park.
Explaining about this, an official of Chennai Smart City Limited (CSCL) said, ‘These poles combine the benefit of LED lighting and mobile connectivity in a lighting as a service model for the benefit of people in the city.
Mobile wireless 4G/ LTE infrastructure deployment on these can result in better coverage, improved data speed, reduction radiation and signal dropouts’.
When asked about its other facilities, she said, The primary function will be to provide street lighting, mobile broadband infrastructure and wi-fi hotspot services. It also includes Active Geo location transponder for location-based services and surveillance cameras.
The above will be connected to the central command and control centre, where it will be constantly monitored and managed’. ‘Smart Poles may also be used for few other purposes like smart bill board, electronic vehicle charging and environmental sensor.
But it should however be ensured that the primary functions are not hampered in any way, while using for other commercial purposes, the official stated.
The said development has brought cheers among residents of the area.
The poles with varied functions, will help monitoring traffic movement in the street, as congestion has increased rapidly in Venkatanarayana Road, after allowing one-way entry in Pedestrian Plaza, Pondy Bazaar’, said R S Radhakrishnan, secretary of South Madras Walkers and Joggers Association, functioning in the park.
Also, a public announcement system through speakers in the poles, will be useful in tracking the speeding vehicles and those that are parked haphazardly in the area, he opined.
CCTV cameras set up in the towers, will help in watching the crowd movement and preventing thefts’, said Velayutham, a vendor here.