Gandhinagar : Energy must be saved to protect the environment said, Acharya Devvrat. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvart, while initiating energy saving, said that energy saving should be a habit and disposition of the people and there is a need to work in that direction. The Governor gave guidelines in a meeting of the top officials of the concerned department regarding energy saving at Raj Bhavan and stressed on the need for energy saving for the protection of environment and efficient use of energy. A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary of the department to prevent unnecessary consumption in the state and to create public awareness about energy saving, taking into account the guidelines of the governor. The committee will consider energy conservation across the state and will direct the concerned offices and departments to provide guidance for raising public awareness. The Governor termed energy saving as equivalent to electricity production and said that coal is a natural resource used in energy production. When thermal production also harms the environment due to the production of energy by thermal power stations, it is necessary to save energy for the preservation of natural resources and protection of the environment. Describing his self-experience regarding energy saving, the Governor said that during his tenure as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, he had created awareness and inspiration in Raj Bhavan regarding energy saving. As a result, in a single year, Rs. 9 lakh could be saved. Similarly, in the last three years, unnecessary consumption of electricity has been prevented by providing inspiration for energy saving awareness in Gujarat Raj Bhavan.
The Governor, while giving guidance in this meeting, said that in government offices, the lights are switched on as soon as the office starts and switch off when the office is closed. By changing this situation, it is necessary to cultivate an understanding in the officers and employees to develop the habit of using the lights only when needed and turning off the light-fan or air-conditioner when not needed. In this regard, as decided in the meeting, a circular will be issued for prudent use of electricity in government offices. The Governor suggested in this meeting that the sensor operated street light is switched on as soon as the sun sets and continues even after sunrise. In such circumstances, it is important to plan the time in such a way that the street light is turned on only when it is dark and turns off early in the morning. Millions of rupees of electricity can be saved if street lights are turned on only half an hour late and half an hour early. Similarly, if street lights are used late at night in such a way that maximum use of moonlight can be made on full moon day, a large amount of electricity can be saved, the governor said. The Governor requested to create awareness among the people about the importance of electricity saving through public awareness campaigns. For this purpose, seminars were organized across the state to create awareness among the people and also to create awareness among the students at school-college and university level.
