By IANS
Chandigarh : Conventional, power-guzzling light bulbs will have to be replaced with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in all industrial units and their residential colonies in parts of Haryana.
A spokesman of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said Saturday that now it will be mandatory to use the CFLs, T-5 tube lights or induction bulbs in all low-tension and high-tension industries and factories and their residential colonies, hospitals, street lighting and staff quarters.
The ban has been imposed in the area comprising districts of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat and Faridabad.
The spokesman said that industrial consumers have been given time till Jan 31 to replace all conventional bulbs with the power saving lights at their own cost. Failure on part of any industrial establishment to comply with the ban will result in disconnection of power without notice, he added.
DHBVN officials have calculated that the total number of lighting points in all the 42,000 LT and HT industries in the area of the DHBVN is nearly 800,000. Replacement of all of the traditional yellow bulbs and T-12 tube lights would result in saving of about 48 MW power annually.
Farmers in these districts of Haryana have also been asked to replace all the existing incandescent bulbs installed in the rooms of the 200,000 tube-well connections up to Jan 31 at their own cost. They will also face power disconnection for violating the new rule.
The DHBVN spokesman said that 24 MW would be saved through this measure in the farm sector.
Use of an efficient lighting system is mandatory for all industrial units and commercial complexes with more than 5 KW load. DHBVN was the first electricity utility in India to make use of CFLs mandatory for new connections in the domestic sector in April 2007.
Sales of CFLs at cheaper rates have been arranged by Haryana’s power distribution agencies at various centres in collaboration with manufacturers.
Over 600 villages under the DHBVN jurisdiction have completely shifted to CFLs, which save up to 70 percent electricity.
Over 65,630 CFL and over 33,460 energy efficient T-5 tube lights have been installed or replaced in government offices across the state at a cost of Rs.1.67 billion.