Prominent buildings in the National Capital and the eastern metropolis including the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Victoria Memorial on Saturday switched off their lights as they joined many cities across the globe to mark the Earth Hour. In addition, several markets, residential colonies and hotels too participated in the seventh edition for India of the global movement against climate change as they switched off the lights between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm.
The Earth Hour was a reminder to the common man to take time out from busy schedules for the cause of electricity conservation, says Bollywood actor and youth icon Arjun Kapoor, the brand ambassador for the annual activity since two years. "It's (an effort towards) connecting with the common man out there who might not have the time to think about all of this... if you just make him (the common man) think, I am sure it will make a difference in a bigger way," Arjun, who was in New Delhi to mark the occasion, told IANS in an interview.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said that all non-essential lights in the president's house and the estate would be switched off for an hour on Saturday at 8.30 p.m, while lamps at the iconic Akshardham Temple on the banks of the Yamuna in east Delhi too blinked off for an hour. In Kolkata, the city's iconic Victoria Memorial and the Indian Museum too joined the cause to save power. "Apart from these two buildings, the air force station at Barrackpore in West Bengal and all National Cadet Corps establishments also participated in the initiative, World Wildlife Federation (WWF) education officer Samya Basu told IANS.