SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: Employees at the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) offices will have to switch off air conditioners (ACs) after 5 pm and keep them at 25 degrees Celsius, under orders to cut water and electricity use by at least 20 per cent.
Managing Director K Ashok Reddy issued the directions to officials, according to a press note dated Friday, October 23. He said the board must first practise what it asks of the public, as water conservation cannot become a people’s movement unless it begins inside the utility’s own offices.
He said the El Nino conditions expected ahead make conserving water resources a priority. Saving water and power, he said, should not remain a publicity exercise and must be visible in the functioning of the board itself.
Strict AC rules
All offices must keep AC temperatures at 25 degrees Celsius and stop using them after 5 pm. Exceptions will be made only for emergency maintenance work and only with special permission from senior officials.
Water dripping from ACs should be collected and reused for plants, cleaning and other work that does not need drinking water, instead of being allowed to go to waste.
Leaks and idle power use
Officials have been told to identify leaks in office buildings, toilets, pipelines, taps and storage tanks, and to repair them immediately. Officers concerned must keep a close watch to prevent any wastage of water.
Lights, fans, computers and other equipment must be switched off when not in use, particularly after office hours. Ashok Reddy asked every employee to treat power saving as a personal responsibility.
Officers made accountable
Each office must regularly review its water and electricity consumption and compare it with past usage to show a saving of at least 20 per cent. Officials of the respective offices have been made responsible for implementing the rules.
Ashok Reddy warned that negligence in curbing waste will be viewed seriously and that no laxity will be tolerated.
Certificates for top performers
Offices that achieve the 20 per cent target will be recognised, and officers and staff who perform best on water and power conservation each month will receive appreciation certificates. He said the aim is to encourage healthy competition so that every HMWSSB office becomes an example for others.
“We cannot change society without changing ourselves, and we cannot tell others what we do not practise ourselves,” Ashok Reddy said.
SOURCE : SIASAT
