Street lights remain on till noon at some localities in Calcutta. Picture by Jayanta Basu

In late March, 380 cities in 35 countries across the globe had voluntarily put out their lights for an hour to save energy and express solidarity in the fight against climate change. Calcutta — among the cities that will be hit the hardest by the effects of climate change, according to studies — could not be bothered.

Hardly surprising, considering authorities in the city keep the street lights switched on well into the day.

“The lights on Ballygunge Circular Road are on till almost 8am every day; they can easily be switched off around 6am in the summer months. This will not only save energy but also cut down the electricity bill of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC),” says a senior official of the state environment department who lives in the area.

The experience of environmentalist S.M. Ghosh, who stays near Deshapriya Park, is even worse. “In our area, the street lights are sometimes on till noon. The other day, we had to complain to CESC and the CMC before the lights were switched off at noon,” he says.

Sushil Sharma, the mayoral council member in charge of both electrical and environment wings, admits that there are “problems in some areas with switching on and off the lights manually”. He promises to set things right within the year.

The CMC has the major responsibility of maintaining the roadside lights, though the state public works department and the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners also maintain the lights on some stretches in the city.

“We have decided to replace the manual system with an automatic timer-based or sensor-based one on all major thoroughfares in the city within the current financial year. It will definitely reduce energy wastage,” says Sharma.

The green brigade is not convinced. They would like to see the plan implemented first.

“Who says we are not concerned about saving energy?” asks an environmentalist. “Other cities put out lights for an hour only for a day, but we in Calcutta are forced by power cuts to keep lights off for several hours daily. That’s our only contribution to energy conservation and protecting our environment.”