Earth Hour from 8 to 9 pm today:

Lights off for Govt institutions

Rafik JALALDEEN

Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has requested all Government Institutions to switch off their lights from 8.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. to observe the Earth Hour (EH) today.

The Minister said a ceremony will be held at the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry to mark the Earth Hour using moonlight and non electrical lamps.

Nearly 2.2 million Australian citizens spent an hour in darkness switching off their electrical lamps on March 27, 2007 to reduce green house gas emissions to the atmosphere. It was named as 'Earth Hour'. People in around 370 cities in 30 countries have observed the Earth Hour on March 27, 2008. People in 4,159 cities in 88 countries celebrated Earth Hour switching off their electrical lights in 2009. Even the Eiffel Tower had switched off its lights to mark the Earth Hour.

Therefore, he said Sri Lanka also decided to observe the EH in 2010.