Govt offices continue to consume huge amount of power, ignore Central scheme on LED

Bengaluru: The Union government’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme does not have many takers in government offices like post offices and regional transport offices across the city.

The scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 aims to distribute 770 million LEDs by March 2019 in 100 cities in India. But although 66 lakh LED bulbs have been distributed in the city to date, several government offices themselves are running either on incandescent bulbs or conventional tubelights, which consume a lot more electricity.

Said a senior officer of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), “The government is not worried because it does not have to pay the electricity bills. It is the taxpayers’ money that goes to pay them. If LED lights are used more in the state, its power consumption could fall by 10 per cent.”

Mr Mahesh Kashyap, an environmentalist and consultant with the Indian Institute of Science, warns the ramifications on the environment will be huge if the state does not completely shift its focus to LEDs.

“The incandescent bulb not only has a shorter lifespan but also contains mercury, which if broken releases mercury into the environment. The LED bulbs, on
the other hand, bring down the greenhouse gas emissions and are long lasting,” he explained.