Bleak hour for better future... DNA 7 Jul Pg 5

Ashutosh Shukla

In a city where there is not a minute of loadshedding, enduring an hour without power is no less than a 'penance'. But that is what most of the members of Immaculate Conception Church, Borivili, have been doing for the past four months to 'rid them of the sin' of global warming, and do their bit for Mother Nature.

Around 18,000 parishioners have been switching off lights in their homes for an hour every Friday to help conserve power and thereby, natural resources. The parish comprises around 500 buildings in Borivili (west), located along SV Road, LM Road, Link Road Extension, Kandarpada, IC Colony and LIC Colony.

Pearl D'Souza, resident of IC Colony, Cross Road No.5, said, "We do this because we feel that we can conserve electricity this way." As the clock strikes 9 pm every Friday, all electric appliances are switched off. "The kids lose out on cartoon serials, but there is a positive side to this. We all stay at home and bond better by talking about anything and everything that comes to our mind for an hour," she added.

Some families, like the Fernandezes, have dinner together. "Once in a while, it is a nice feeling to sit and have food in candlelight," said Desmond Fernandez.

The 55-year-old resident of IC Colony is also among those who walk up to the church for the Sunday Mass. Majority of the parishioners leave their vehicles at home to ensure that they don't add to the traffic chaos and air and noise pollution.

Father Franklin Mathias, the parish priest, told DNA, "We started this programme on Good Friday in March. We call it 'Batti Bandh'. Our aim is to do our bit for the environment and tackle the threat of global warming."

The priest said that the idea to do something started taking shape after the parish council for civic affairs decided to play its role in safeguarding the environment. After numerous researches, the council came up with a CD, which helped the parishioners to understand the problems and the ways to tackle them.

It was Willie Shirsat, president of Hindustani Ekta Lokpraja Tantra (HELP), who came up with the 'Batti Bandh' idea. "We wanted to start somewhere. Hopefully, it would act like a catalyst and spread the idea across," he said.

s_ashutosh@dnaindia.net