The first stage of the EU Light India project being coordinated by Karnataka State Centre consisted of training programmes at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Reports on these have been published in earlier issues of the newsletter.

The next stage of the project was an exchange programme under which selected participants visited Warsaw and Milan for interaction and field visits to installations in those cities and to study their practices.
Originally the exchange Programme provided for the visit of 10 participants to Warsaw and another 10 participants to Italy with the final seminar being held in Milan.

ISLE in consultation with the selected participants and the partners considered that by suitably rescheduling the Programme at Warsaw and Milan, it would be possible to enable all the 20 participants to visit both cities at a very marginal additional cost. This would also enable all the exchange Programme participants to take part in the concluding Final Seminar.

It was decided that ISLE and the participants would meet the additional cost and a request would be made to EC to allow the marginal excess in the expenditure, the extra outlay being insignificant in comparison to the enhanced success of the exchange programme, by the participation of all in Warsaw and in Milan, as well as in the concluding Final Seminar. The Programme was accordingly rescheduled.

A high level delegation comprising of ISLE members from Lighting Companies, Government Organizations, Municipalities, Consultants, Lighting Engineers led by Mr. M.S.N. Swamy, Coordinator EU-Project and Hon. Secretary, ISLE Karnataka State Centre visited Warsaw from April 11 to 14 and Milan from April 16 to 19 under the exchange programme.

The added advantage of this revised programme was that the visit to the Electroluce International Lighting Fair at Milan was included as part of the technical visits which proved to be highly beneficial as it gave wide exposure to the industry and products, (something that would not have been possible by individual visits to factories).
The programme in Warsaw covered discussions, a visit and demonstration at the Institute of Energy, visit to the Palace of Science and Culture, technical seminar on Street Lighting practice and efforts on energy conservation as well as on case studies of Monument Lighting.

An exhibition and display of lighting and lighting control products was also arranged. About 20 manufacturers and product developers from Poland participated, resulting in good Techno Commercial interaction. The highlight of the Programme was the development of controls with suitable signals for the blind while crossing roads.

The Programme in Milan covered detailed case studies of the Street Lighting system of Sesto Giovanni, maintenance schemes, practices developed for life increase of poles, etc., and a case study of the monument lighting of the Duomo Cathedral including a follow up site visit up the monument. There were technical visits to IGQ, regarding the testing and certification of products to standards. The demonstrations covered the product testing and also the procedural aspects with particular reference to import-export between EU areas and others including Landhini, a manufacturing unit of poles and high masts.

A technical visit with the assistance of ASSIL to the trade fair was the concluding part of the programme in Milan.

Participants Comments

We give below the comments of two of the participants of the exchange programme, Mr. Pradeep Nettur and Mr. D. Krishna Sastry.

Pradeep Nettur

At the outset let me thank all the partners of the EU Light India Project for the successful conduct of the exchange programme in Warsaw and Milan from 11.04.07 to 19.04.07. The programme was highly rewarding to me, both professionally and personally.

As a member of 21 member team, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and am extremely grateful to M/s Swamy and Bhavani Prasad of ISLE, Thomasiok, Karwacki & Reshab of IRSEP, Maurizio Estini of Assistal for the excellent training programme, and other connected arrangements. Though I could sense many anxious moments, rather days, that were undergone by MSN & JNB, the tour turned out to be highly successful mainly due to the behind the scene maneouvres by both of them with timely help from both Italy and India. It is a great tribute to their sagacity, perseverance, patience and timely action that none of these hiccups did affect any of the programmes even a wee bit. Hats off to both the stalwarts!

The down to earth approach and sincerity of purpose of the entire team in Warsaw did strike me a lot. Right from our touching down in Warsaw, things were made to unfold to make our visit very productive and meaningful. The arrangement and demonstrations made at the Energy Institute gave us the first hand information about the strides made by this great country, after badly suffering in World War II, in the field of energy. The trip to the Warsaw Palace in the evening and the long walk through the vibrant and resurgent Warsaw streets in the night was most enthralling.

The simplicity and great regard for the purpose of our visit were amply demonstrated by our hosts by walking along with us all the way from Royal Palace to Royal Castle, and even venturing to walk down to the Warsaw river. Though a bit tiring, this trip was very educative and highly interesting as it provided the team with a rare opportunity to have a close look at the progress made by the country in external lighting, particularly lighting of historical monuments. Their experimentations, successes, setbacks and the determination to go forward came across during the long walk. I could see a gulf of difference between our approach and their approach towards street and external lighting and it was a real eye opener. How concerned they are about light pollution is to be seen to be believed. This we did. The theme of the presentations and deliberations in the subsequent days in Warsaw also revolved around optimum design, public safety, security, cutting out wastage and conserving energy. All the presenters did their job very well. Sharing their experiences and thoughts were very refreshing and that could be extremely useful in our scheme of things to every participant one way or another.

One important aspect that I noticed in the external lighting scheme was that good use is made of public utilities, some times even private structures, to support the luminaires delicately placing them totally hidden or with very little visibility. This is in stark contrast to our scheme of things where the total lighting scheme is done in isolation, independent of neighbouring structures, poles or utilities. This is also a reflection of the peoples' mindset, who act in unison. This attitude was again witnessed by us when we went to Royal Castle square on the last day, where we could see the huge flower bowls being planted with fresh flowering plants by the housewives of the area as a part of their civic duty. Great country and great people!

Polish designers attach great importance to public safety, be it street lighting, public lighting or monumental lighting. The political change after 1990 provided them with great opportunities. The change over to finer and economic designs, change of ownership from state to private hands, replacement of old and inefficient luminaires etc happened smoothly and efficiently. Some of the monumental religious structures are lighted and maintained as a public duty. Again a far cry from our scheme of things.

The special design of street light poles to have less impact during collision of vehicles, always providing twin lamps (one working at a time) at crossings are very good examples to be emulated from a public safety point of view. I wish our team had consisted of more decision-making authorities from major and minor municipalities apart from the strong contingent from NDMC.

The Polish designers' approach to monumental lighting, taking into account the shape, architectural style, and public function of the building, its surrounding etc. was a revelation. Accent method (getting a three dimensional view), keeping the principles of coherence, order and intensification of 3D impression could be easily understood by witnessing the lighting of different buildings during the long walk and the excellent presentations made.
Making use of the tree maps and the contours of their roots, while laying cables in public parks etc. to avoid any damage to the tree is an important point our team members should carry home. The very successful attempt at energy conservation made by the Warsaw team, near the Aviation Medicine Institute, could be witnessed and understood by us. We were told the system was functional for the last 4 years and it is working fine with considerable energy saving - another scheme that can be emulated in the energy guzzling streets of various municipalities in our land.

The experience in Milan was altogether different. The design prowess and the advancements made in the application of best designs could be seen during our stay in Milan, interactive sessions, field visits to the municipality, steel manufacturing unit memorial, the Duomo Cathedral and the exhibition 'Electro Luce'. The emerging designs and lighting trends put on show at the exhibition were awe-inspiring. The visit to the manufacturing unit of Landhini was a very good experience. The variety of designs in the manufacturing range and the usefulness of high masts for Telecom applications, in addition to lighting, interested me very much. The facilities and models available at the manufacturing unit gave a very good idea of the possibilities of more interactions in future for mutual benefit. I think Indian manufacturers must get closer to their counterparts in Italy to take full advantage of their design prowess and wealth of knowledge in the field. The members of the team from public utilities and the Government sector should think aloud about evaluating products and schemes on a life cycle cost basis for a period of 10 to 15 years.

The hospitality that we enjoyed at Milan, particularly at Landhini's, was unforgettable. The opportunity of having a peep into the IMQ and exposure to the facilities, equipment and instruments put into use for the certifications at the center is considered unique and rewarding.

Our sojourn to the vivacious city of Venice on Sunday, the 15th of April, is considered the icing on the cake which shall remain as vivid memories. Memories of canals, wonderful lanes, bylanes dotted with imposing and architecturally superb churches, and exquisite shops. Places where great men, like Marco Polo, Napolean Bonaparte, Goethe, Vivaldi, who made history in the past several centuries lived once, made us feel extremely fortunate to have at least passed by, sailing in wonderfully maintained and delicately driven boats. Last but not the least, our stay at Stresa was a wonderful and enchanting experience, raising the spirit of the whole team towards the end of the tour. Million thanks to M/s Landhini and Assistal for using their influence and facilitating our comfortable stay at Stresa, during the heavily crowded and overbooked situation in Milan.

Thanks once again to all the partners and men and women, who worked behind the exchange programme.

D. Krishna Sastry

Four days between 11th to 14th were spent at Warsaw. The Warsaw visit was a highly packed itinerary with visits to Monument lighting sites, Electrical Engineering Institutes, Municipal Public Lighting control demonstration, presentation by various lighting product companies on innovative products and product exhibitions by various manufacturers. The technical presentations by various product manufacturers on their innovative products was an extremely educative proposition with new business opportunities for such products. The presentation on Monument Lighting, Street Lighting, Energy Saving and Remote Monitoring Solutions were extremely educative. The product exhibitions by AWEX lighting and ART Metal were one of the best. The presence of light sources and illumination measurement instruments by the respective manufacturers demonstrated the availability of technically advanced illumination technology within Poland.

The visit to the Palace of Science and Culture 37th floor was a rare occasion to see the illumination of Warsaw by night. The palace itself was a demonstration of international class of monument lighting. The technical demonstration of Monument and Public Lighting in the main streets of Warsaw and at the rebuilt old Town of Warsaw which was completely destroyed during the second world war was an example of the hidden skills, perseverance and a desire to preserve the heritage and culture of the Polish people. The contrast illuminations on buildings and some valuable innovative concepts adopted in monument lighting was a learning experience. The road illumination on some of the main streets was a viewing pleasure with the presence of a wide variety of designer poles. The effort to illuminate both the walkways and the motorists' road especially by predefined planning to give the pedestrians a higher level of lux on the housing side and direct and indirect illumination on the motorists' pathway was interesting to note. There has been a continuous effort to improve illumination levels on streets and simultaneously reduce energy consumption by using energy efficient light sources. The illumination of important churches, statues and the Presidential Palace were very good examples of monument lighting.

The demonstration given by various product manufacturers like AWEX Emergency lighting solutions, Art Metal Poles and Public Lighting products, Nova Light stall for innovative energy saving ballasts,Spectro Color Professional Light measuring devices, RAR Street Light Energy Saving solutions, Imperial Downlights and many other light source manufacturers was a good opportunity for business interaction. The demonstration by RAR on proven usage of remote monitoring and control of street lighting for energy saving by using telemetry and also energy saving by voltage regulation was a testimonial to availability of such solutions from the past few years, to the advantage of the Municipalities. It was an educative experience of learning on street light energy savings. In all, the entire visit was summarised with a visit to the Warsaw Castle and the Old City on the final day.

I am extremely happy to conclude that the power packed visit to Warsaw was an electrifying experience and a busy schedule for three days. In between, the teams had taken a little time out to visit and learn about the city. Warsaw is a city symbolizing and adapting to changing modern times and a rapidly growing economy. With lots of knowledge added we left Warsaw with the intention of returning, for another important destination, Milano, Italy.

Evaluation Seminar in India:

Following the third training programme in Bangalore an evaluation seminar was held on February 16, 2007 and was well attended, by distinguished dignitaries in addition to the participants and the partners.

The Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka, Mr. P.B. Mahishi participated in the Programme Evaluation Seminar on February 16 and also inaugurated and dedicated the Lighting Knowledge Bank website. All the Programme partners were impressed with the programmes held.

The Government of Karnataka has shown keen interest in the energy conservation and remote lighting controls and it is anticipated that ISLE will rise to the expectations of the Government and bring out appropriate field training modules for relevant sections of the municipal and electricity distribution divisions.

In the aftermath of the Delhi and Bangalore programmes some specific requests have been made.

Delhi will be hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and work on various sports stadia and on lighting the monuments (or upgrading them) has already started. In this context a lot of discussion took place. A request was made for arranging a dedicated session focused on Sports Lighting and also for a session on Monument Lighting.

Bangalore has desired tailor made programmes to train the municipal and electricity distribution authorities.

The leader of the European Delegation Mr. Maurizio Esitini agreed to take up the matter with the European Commission either as an extension of this programme or as a separate programme immediately on conclusion of the present programme. He explained that the budget does not provide for an automatic extension of the present programme.

Final Concluding Seminar

The seminar covered the various aspects of interaction, that had taken place in the course of the three training sessions and the exchange programme and the needs and capabilities of India, Italy and Poland are now better known to each other. The scope of collaboration between the countries is immense and the details will be in the report to be filed by the leader of the Programme, ASSISTAL.

This seminar was also attended by the Trade Commissioner of India in Milan, who delivered the address on behalf of the Consul General of India, who was unable to attend due to an unforeseen engagement.

The media coverage was excellent. Both TV and the leading newspapers covered the event in detail.