LUCKNOW: For a change, the IIM-L campus was enveloped in darkness on Sunday evening -- all for a cause.
Precisely at 7.30pm, over 800 students of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow switched off all the lights on the campus to save electricity as run up to the `Earth Hour' -- to be observed on March 27 under Save Earth Campaign.
The lights remained switched off on the campus for 15 minutes followed by a candle march taken out by the students and faculty. Later, they took an oath that "they would protect Mother Earth, reduce pollution and conserve energy''.
"It's a pledge we all must take,'' said Ishani Pruthi, first year student of PGP. "It's not just about saving electricity. One needs to take environment holistically...be it power, or even the ground water depletion. Just everything matters,'' said IIM-L Prof, Debashis Dasgupta.
The initiative was a part of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) campaign that began in Sydney (Australia) in 2007, when over two million people switched off the lights for an hour to convey their support for action on climate change.
In 2008, the campaign went global with over 50 million people in 371 cities across 35 countries taking part in it. Then in 2009, more than 4,000 cities and towns, 20,000 companies, 8,000 schools, 5,500 organisations in 88 countries participated in Earth Hour, which reached nearly one billion people.
For 2010, the campaign has already been launched in India on March 10 in New Delhi by chief minister Sheila Dixit. At IIM-L, it is the forward interest group in Food and Agri-business (IGFAB) which is conducting the Save Electricity Campaign in association with WWF.
Meanwhile, IGFAB also came up with a video presentation at a Mall near Hazratganj to sensitise people about the need to save electricity so as to prevent global warming and its subsequent effects on human life.
Media Cell of the institute said that both the events received an enthusiastic response in terms of participation and involvement from IIM Lucknow students community and the people of the city. It added that the institute looks forward to its continued participation in events for social and environmental causes.
