Greenpeace hold march to protest delay in Bachat Lamp Yojana

New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) Greenpeace activists today held a demonstration to protest the governnment's inaction in implementing the 'Bachat Lamp Yojana' to phase out the ''electricity-guzzling, incandescent bulb'', stressing every day's delay meant 2,50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Greenpeace urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to implement the measure, which would address the global crisis of climate change and the energy crisis in the country, by the Republic Day, noting it had been languishing since July last year after being announced in the Climate Council, which he heads.

In the protest at Jantar Mantar, activists held hundreds of balloons with CO2 emblazoned on them. They also carried banners reminding Dr Singh that he had an important promise to keep to the country and the environment, a Greenpeace release said.

''Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, clearly has no idea of the urgency required in acting on the issue of climate change to safeguard the future of this country's people and the planet for future generations. We have less than a 100 months to save ourselves from climate catastrophe and there is no time to waste, the release quoted Greenpeace India's Climate and Energy campaigner Brikesh Singh as saying.

''We are now taking the demand directly to the Prime Minister, and we hope that we don't face the same dilly-dallying. We demand that the long overdue Bachat Lamp Yojana, be announced by this Republic Day and the electricity guzzling, incandescent bulb be phased out,'' he added.

Greenpeace had started the ''Ban the Bulb'' campaign in April 2007 demanding a phase out of incandescent light bulbs by 2010.

Since January, it had started a 'Gandhigiri-style' soft pressure campaign in the beginning of January. Activists delivered bouquets of balloons symbolising ''avoidable CO2 emissions'' at the doorstep of the Power Minister every day. Although Mr Shinde met the activists on the first day, and assured that the Yojana will be implemented soon, he made no firm commitments about when the scheme would be operational.

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