Nagpur: Earth Hour is the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment organized by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), inspiring millions of people to take action for our planet and nature, started in 2007 in Sydney .It is celebrated in more than 180 countries each year on one of the Saturdays of March month from 8.30-9.30 pm local time.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation and a local NGO observed Earth Hour 2019 at Eternity Mall, Sitabuldi, Nagpur on March 30 from 8.30-9.30 pm. Members of Green Vigil Foundation appealed shopkeepers and citizens to switch off their non-essential lights and electronic gadgets for an hour to show their commitment towards planet. Alongside, citizens, shopkeepers were also informed about deterioration of nature, global warming, climate change, its impact, consequences and urgent need to act to tackle the climate change.
Adopting to this global event, Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Green Vigil Foundation, have been observing Pournima Day (Full Moon) Campaign aimed at energy conservation on every Pournima day, since 2014. On each Pournima, a busy square of Nagpur is selected, wherein streetlights of the square is put off or dimmed and members of Green Vigil Foundation interact with shopkeepers, residents and citizens to switch off their non – essential lights from 8.00-9.00 pm to contribute towards energy conservation.
Till date, through this campaign, 160000 units of electricity have been saved, which is equivalent to restricting 160000 kgs of carbon emissions in the atmosphere, 1200000 litres of water and 80000 kgs of coal. This is in line with India’s commitment to Paris Agreement of reducing emission intensity of GDP by 2030 by 33-35 % below the levels of 2005.
The campaign was conducted under the guidance of Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar. Prominently present during the occasion were Ram Joshi, Additional Commissioner, NMC, Aziz Sheikh, Additional Commissioner, Nitin Kapadnis, Deputy Commissioner, Mahesh Morone, Asst. Commissioner, A.S Mankar, Head, Electrical Dept, NMC, Sanjay Jaiswal, Kaustav Chatterjee, Founder, Green Vigil, Surbhi Jaiswal, Team Lead, Ashish Barai , Manager, Eternity Mall.
Green Vigil members Surbhi Jaiswal, Mehul Kosurkar, Bishnudeo Yadav, Sheetal Choudhary, Vikash Yadav, Kartiki Kawale, Digambar Nagpure, Saurabh Ambade, Amol Bhalmey, Sarang More, Priya Yadav, Dadarao Mohod, Chinmay Dhiman and others worked hard for the success of the campaign.
