Greenpeace blames India for going slow on "Ban the Bulb" campaign

New Delhi, Jan 21 : International environmental watchdog Greenpeace has blamed New Delhi for not doing enough to press the "Ban the Bulb" campaign.

Holding banners and black balloons, Greenpeace activists marched through the capital on Sunday to protest the tardy progress on global warming.

Greenpeace wants India to ban the use of incandescent bulbs.

"We are staging this protest to remind Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh that seven months have lapsed and year has also changed, but the scheme has not been implemented so far. We have only 100 months to solve the problem of global warming. It should be implemented with immediate effect," said Brikesh Singh, a Greenpeace campaigner.

India's Climate Council headed by the Prime Minister had announced a scheme in July, 2006 to replace incandescent bulbs with eco-friendly Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL).

The delay in implementing the scheme is costing the environment 2, 50, 000 tonnes of Carbon dioxide every day.

According to Greenpeace, the ban would cut the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by four percent.

Currently contributing to around three percent of total global emissions,ndia is already amongst the world's top five polluters, along with the Unitedtates, China, Russia and Japan.

Experts say India's and China's carbon emissions are set to rise steeply due to rapid economic development.

Greenpeace started the Ban the Bulb' campaign in India in April 2007.

ANI