Mumbaikars form giant human art to promote energy efficiency

Mumbai, Dec 3 (UNI) Hundreds of citizens gathered today at the Juhu beach in North West Mumbai to form a giant 8,000 square feet human art design in order to promote energy efficiency in the metropolis.

The human art, which read the slogan ''Switch for Mumbai'' on the sand, was part of the ongoing Greenpeace campaign which asked citizens to switch over from their ordinary incandescent bulbs to power saving CFLs, a release said.

Responding to the two week-old public campaign across section of the city's populace from school children and morning walkers to housewives and families turned up early this morning to organise the unique manifestation of the city's desire to move towards a more energy efficient future.

Over the last ten days, an ecclectic mix of Mumbaikars from film stars to paanwallahs had switched for Mumbai and expressed their desire to combat climate change. The switch campaign was launched on November 20 when Greenpeace 'Pirates of the Arabian' began raiding the city, switching ordinary bulbs for CFLs and spreading the message of energy efficiency and the need to reduce carbon emmisions to combat climate change.

Since then, the Pirates have multiplied as members of the public expressed their desire to join the campaign. Yesterday, simultaneous raids were conducted across the city.

CFLs consume 1/5th the electricity used by incandescents for the same amount of light.

''If 4.5 million incandescent bulbs across Mumbai were replaced with CFLs (less than one CFL for every two citizens), the city's power shortage problem could be addressed without building additional power plants,'' Greenpeace India Executive Director G Ananthapadmanabhan said.

''We are urging the government to first invest in energy efficiency measures before building new power plants,'' he added.

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