Raipur babus face timers on coolers

The government has recently ordered to replace the incandescent bulbs with the CLF bulbs in all the state government offices, boards, corporations and state-run agencies.

The government explained that the CLF bulbs have lifetimes 10 times those of incandescent and use just one-quarter of the power. "The chief secretary has instructed the heads of all the state government departments to purchase timer for the air-conditioners from the department fund and install it at the earliest," a senior state official said.

The decision was taken on the basis of report submitted by the department of energy suggesting measures to save power. The report said that maximum power in the state government offices, boards, corporations and state-run agencies was consumed by the air-conditioners.

"It is generally seen that the air-conditioners start in the state government offices well before the officer lands and continues to cool the office even after he leaves," said the official. Occasionally, the junior employees even fail to turn off the air-conditioners. "The timer will check such irregularities and will automatically switch off the air-conditioners after a set period," he added.

The state government expects to save 400MW of power every year by installing timer. Sources said that the state government was making all efforts to save power in the state, which aims to become a power-hub of the country by 2011.