29 Mar : Various organisations and citizens across the country last night switched off lights from 2030 hrs to 2130 hrs as part of the global Earth Hour campaign in a bid to create awareness among the masses about climate change and motivate them to support the actions being taken to fight it.
The climate change, being caused by global warming due to concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of human activities, posed serious threat to life on earth.
In the capital, major landmarks like Humayun’s Tomb, Kutub Minar, Purana Quila and Lal Quila also joined the campaign by switching off the lights.
Earth Hour is being held in the country for the first time. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has started the campaign from Mumbai and Delhi. Governments of both the cities have extended support to the campaign and others cities in the country also participated in it voluntarily.
Government offices, business establishments, residents welfare associations (RWAs) in Delhi, Mumbai and other several cities in the country and the world switched off their lights from 2030 hrs to 2130 hrs today to switch on the new campaign.
Earth Hour was first observed in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.
In 2008, the campaign gained momentum, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Romes Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all went into darkness for an hour to drive home the message.
In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of one billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote, WWF has said.Meanwhile, reports from other parts of the world said that remote Pacific island communities switched off the lights on Saturday as they kicked off Earth Hour 2009.
China, which is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, and Asian industrial hub Singapore are among the more than 80 countries taking part in the campaign this year.Remote Chatham Islands was the first place where supporters turned the lights off for an hour at 2030 hrs local time, followed by New Zealand and Fiji.