Pressure builds up on Mysore Palace to switch to eco-friendly lamps

Pressure is building up on the authorities of the famous Mysore Palace near here to replace the incandescent bulbs that illuminate the iconic heritage monument with eco-friendly and energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL).

Greenpeace, an independent international organization spearheading the “Ban the Bulb” campaign, has already submitted a proposal to the Mysore district administration recommending the replacement of 96,000 incandescent bulbs of 15 watts each with CFLs that will not only bring down the power consumption, but also reduce the electricity bill substantially.

Srinivasa Krishnaswamy, climate and energy expert, Greenpeace India, told a press conference in Mysore near here that the 96,000 incandescent bulbs that illuminate the Mysore Palace consumed about 1,20,000 KW of power annually. The power consumption will come down by a whopping 80,000 KW per annum if the existing bulbs are replaced with CFLs, resulting in a saving of more than Rs 4 million every year.

More importantly, Krishnaswamy said the switch-over would help save electricity and reduce the carbon di oxide emissions from power plants. “The famous Mysore Palace can showcase itself as the first heritage building in the country, which is sensitive to the cause of climate change”, he said.

Greenpeace, which has estimated the cost of the overhauling the lighting system at Mysore Palace at Rs 12 million, said the authorities could recover the cost in three years by virtue of saving electricity bills.

The 80,000 KW of power saved by the replacement of bulbs at Mysore Palace could be used to supply power to more than 200 households in rural areas, Krishnaswamy said.

Expressing concern over global warming, Krishnaswamy said more than 60 per cent of India’s power requirement comes from coal-based thermal power plants that spew carbon di oxide into the atmosphere and contribute to the rise in greenhouse gases.