Mumbai turns off lights during Earth Hour

MUMBAI - Lakhs of Mumbai residents, corporates and government organisations enthusiastically participated in the second Earth Hour Saturday night by switching off all non-essential lights for one hour in their homes, offices and public places, organisers said.

The Earth Hour got underway with a large candle light procession led by Mumbai’s Mayor Shraddha Jadhav from her Shivaji Park bungalow attended by thousands of youths.

“This is truly a great concept and we must all participate in it. It will give us huge long term benefits and help us to conserve power and prevent load-shedding,” Jadhav told IANS.

Asked whether she would consider a suggestion to have an Earth Hour for Mumbai very month, Jadhav said: “It is a good and practical idea, why not?”

However, she declined to commit herself saying that she would have to consult people in the civic government and other agencies before going ahead with such a plan.

On Friday night, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had promised that he and his cabinet colleagues and other officials would lead the state’s participation in the World Wide Fund’s Global Hour by switching off all non-essential lights Saturday at 8.30 p.m.

“I shall be switching off all non-essential lights in my office and residence, and have requested all my colleagues and staff to take part in this global initiative,” Chavan said in his special message late Friday night.

Last year, Mumbai had pioneered and participated in the Earth Hour to creating awareness on climate change and global warming.

“This campaign is basically to sensitise individuals towards sustainable living and arrest the depletion of our natural resources. Earth Hour is the need of the hour as we have witnessed changes in our surroundings,” said Chavan.

Besides Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other cities also participated in the Earth Hour, said WWF state director Goldin Quadros.

Besides WWF, several organisations, groups and individual volunteers participated in large numbers in Mumbai.

“The participation was wholehearted among Mumbaikars,” Quadros told IANS.

Among the prominent places where non-essential, high-power halogens and others lights went off included: Mantralaya and New Administrative Buildings, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Air India Building, Reserve Bank of India, the Taj Group of Hotels, Le Meridien Hotel, ITC Grand Maratha, Godrej Colony, Crompton Greaves, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank, St. Xaviers College, scores of private housing and office complexes across the city.

All decorative lights on the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli sea link were also switched off during the hour.

This was the second in India - last year, it was on March 28. The fourth Saturday of March every year is the designated date for Earth Hour.