Switch off lights for Earth Hour on Saturday

Bhubaneswar, the capital city will plunge into darkness for an hour on March 23 for good. Different government offices will switch off lights in the evening to observe Earth Hour-2013.

Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

The Earth Hour is set to be observed from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on March 23.

“We had urged the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), secretariat and commissionerate police to observe the day by switching off their lights,” said member of the organization Piyush Rout. Lights were also found switched off in some houses, he added.

Internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik will spearhead the Earth Hour campaign as its brand ambassador in the State.

The campaign would be kicked off with a 28-hour cyclothon from the temple of Lord Jagannath, Puri, at 4.30 pm on March 22. It will culminate at Puri beach at 8.30 pm on March 23. A huge sand sculpture would be created by Sudarshan on the beach.

The sand artist will appeal to the people to come forward voluntarily to join the campaign and do their bit to save power, thereby contributing to the environment.

Earth Hour-2012 was observed on Saturday March, 31, 2012 from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm where more than 200 crore people in 7001 cities and towns across 152 countries participated.

The one-hour switch off in the State last year is estimated to have saved around 100 MW of power. This year, the event could save 200 to 300 MW.

The campaign for energy saving in Bhubaneswar was taken by members of a voluntary organization in 2008 after 2.2 million residents in Sydney first observed the event and switched off lights for an hour in 2007.