By IANS,
New Delhi: Private power company BSES Thursday said it has joined hands with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to observe Earth Hour Saturday when all lights in its offices will be turned out in an attempt to battle climate change.
A huge success last year, the observance of Earth Hour in 2009 saw Delhi save 750 megawatts of power.
An official BSES statement said: “We will be screening Earth Hour documentary films during the resident welfare association (RWA) meetings, put up posters displaying the message in RWA offices and instruct all our 400 offices to switch off lights in that appointed hour.”
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, while launching the Earth Hour campaign March 10 said: “I hope that Delhi along with other cities across the country will take Earth Hour to newer heights by generating larger savings and sending a strong message to stress the need to shift to a sustainable and low carbon development path.”
The chief minister quipped that Delhiites would be “willing to have a candle light dinner March 27”.
Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan who is the brand ambassador of this WWF initiative also exhorted Delhi to “act responsibly”.
“As responsible citizens of this planet, it is extremely crucial for us to address the colossal problem of climate change through ensuring responsible action and adopting a sustainable way of life… It is time that we take a collective pledge to ‘switch on’ our minds and take one simple step to switch off the lights March 27 from 8.30 to 9:30 p.m.,” Bachchan said.
WWF India’s chief executive officer Ravi Singh said that Earth Hour 2009 was “the largest climate action in history” and this year the campaign will be joined by 92 countries and 878 cities.
“It was heartening to receive tremendous support for the campaign from all sections of the society all across India. It symbolises the aspirations and willingness of our citizens to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. We hope the campaign this year will cross greater boundaries and inspire several more citizens to take decisive and collective action towards protecting our environment,” Singh said.