By Our Spl Correspondent
Shillong: Meghalaya is a power deficit State. This gets more acute during the winter and spring season when the water level in the Umiam Lake falls to dangerously low levels. MeECL shuts down electricity in the dead of night thereby throwing a spoke in the wheels of night birds.
Interestingly on March 31 which is observed as Earth Hour across the world so that citizens can pledge their support for the fight against climate change, Meghalaya was lit up until the usual time.
In every part of the world the light were turned off for one hour. In India the time set for this unique but symbolic event was 8.30 pm.
Organised by the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) this year marks the fourth edition of the Earth Hour.
This year Earth Hour aims at encouraging cities to shift towards sustainable development by undertaking better land, water and energy management which will reduce the growing environmental impact on urban lifestyles.
This year’s national ambassador is cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar. In Moscow, 2400 kilowatt hour (kWh) was saved in the one hour that light were turned off. One kilowatt hour is equal to 1000 watts hours.
March 31 being the year ending, offices were working till very late so turning off the lights for one hour would have delayed our work, a senior official of the Government remarked saying that Meghalaya could observe its own shut down during World Earth Day on April 22.
