State may ban electric bulbs
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
The state government is contemplating a ban on the sale and use of electric bulbs. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting on energy conservation headed by chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh on Wednesday. The recommendation has been sent for legal opinion after which the government will issue a notification that will call for a complete ban on the sale and use of electric bulbs in homes, institutions, offices and commercial establishments.

Once in place by March 2009, Punjab will be one of the first few states in the country that will have successfully moved to compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) from electric bulbs. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has already directed the Punjab Energy Development Authority and the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) “to initiate a joint campaign on a war-footing to achieve 100 per cent efficient lighting in the domestic sector by the end of March 2009”.

The meeting also recommended that the move be extended to the commercial sector as well.

The government has decided to “ban use of incandescent bulbs and normal tubelights with magnetic choke” and replace all bulbs with CFL and efficient tubelights with electronic choke.

It has been decided to send special raiding teams to check the kind of lighting used in rooms attached to tube wells drawing free power for the farm sector. If these rooms do not have CFL, power supply to the tube well will be disconnected.

Sources said there was a partial ban already in place, but especially those drawing free power were not following it.

According to some officials, instead of a complete ban, the government should initially suggest replacement of at least four bulbs with CFL in every house.

The PSEB has been directed to make at least one village completely CFL user in each of its 110 divisions. Thirtysix villages in the state have already become CFL villages and the remaining will be covered over the next two months.

The Chief Minister and the Energy Minister have directed the PSEB to launch an awareness campaign to educate consumers about the advantages of CFLs.