Earth Hour call to switch off lights

India Gate’s orange halo will give way to shimmering stars in the night sky once the lamps that light up the monument are switched off to mark Earth Hour at 8.30 pm on Saturday.

India Gate’s orange halo will give way to shimmering stars in the night sky once the lamps that light up the monument are switched off to mark Earth Hour at 8.30pm on Saturday.

HT Image

In the Capital, lights would also be switched off at several other monuments such as the Qutab Minar and Humayun’s Tomb and government buildings, besides markets and residential areas.

Delhi is the partner state for the Earth Hour 2013. Like last year, when Delhi saved around 295 MW, this year too, Delhiites are gearing up to play a major role to make the event a success by voluntarily switching off their non-essential electricity for an hour staring 8.30pm. Power distribution companies have appealed to their customers to support the event.

Delhi’s environment secretary Sanjeev Kumar has written letters to educational institutions and office-bearers of RWAs and market and trader associations, seeking their support. “Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action for energy conservation. Everyone can make a difference,” the letter reads.

Earth Hour, started in 2007, is celebrated on the last Saturday of March every year. People around the world express their commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for an hour.

India observed its first Earth Hour in 2009 with people in 56 cities switching off lights.

The initiative by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is to encourage people around the world to take accountability for their “ecological footprint”.