Power consumers respond

Walter Liyanarachchi

Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne told the Daily News that paying heed to the request made by him, electricity consumers had conserved power consumption resulting in a saving of 200,000 units per day.

"Eliminating unnecessary wastage, consumers had rendered a service national wise which is appreciable, the Minister said.

"If the consumers continue to assist by consuming lesser units, there would be no necessity to think of a power cut," the Minister said.

The total consumption of units per day islandwide is 28,00,000 and now it has declined to 26,00,000 units.

The Minister believes that the number of units consumed could be brought down to 22,00,000 units since the consumers had understood the real situation. "Consumers are now using low energy light bulbs, such as Compact Fluorescent Lamps for their domestic use and this too is a contributory factor to reduce power consumption," the Minister said.

At the peak of the drought the water levels in the hydro power stations had gone down and was limited to generate only 300 mega watts. But the slight rains experienced in the catchment areas during the past week had resulted in increasing the Mega Watts generated to 400, a Ceylon Electricity Board official said. However he also said that the total number of Mega Watts needed to meet the entire consumption is 1265.

It has become a sad sight to observe street lamps burning till noon. It is the duty of civic minded people who walk along the road to switch them off. Another scourge is residents are in the habit of fixing a lamp in front of their residence, when there already exists a street lamp in the vicinity.

Therefore, the authorities should take steps to do a major survey on every street, avenue or lane and adopt a regulatory system to illuminate streets, the official said.