The entire nation of Bangladesh moved to Daylight Savings Time on Saturday June 20th 2009. [BBC]
Our US readers (with the exception of those in Arizona and Hawaii) are likely to be familiar with the concept of Daylight Savings Time. DST, of course, was primarily introduced for the purpose of utilizing daylight during the summer to keep down energy costs of lighting up homes and businesses. Bangladesh has instituted daylight savings time with the same purpose in mind.
to save power and alleviate the nation’s energy shortfall.
The government made the decision to introduce DST in Bangladesh to address the country’s energy shortages, particularly during the summer period.
It means businesses will open and close an hour earlier than usual.
This arrangement aims to save energy by reducing artificial lighting in the evening, when the demand for power traditionally peaks.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshis are scrambling to adapt to rising early. But DST is a great idea for Bangladesh, with it’s antiquated and overloaded power grids.
About 90 million out of 140 million people in Bangladesh do not have direct access to electricity and those who do have it suffer frequent cuts during the day, which can often last up to an hour each time.
The cuts are part of what the government refers to as a power-sharing programme, but the power crisis is a perennial problem which presents a serious challenge to businesses.
Adopting DST is no silver bullet for Bangladesh’s power problems, whose power grid needs some serious restructuring. But it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
DST is used in over 70 countries including Pakistan and, now, Bangladesh. Which raises the question, why not India? Delhi Savings Time has a nice ring to it. Large portions of India face the same problems as Bangladesh with antiquated power grids and frequent power cuts particularly in the hot summer months. For one, In more developed countries, questions are being raised on the accuracy of this claim, stemming primarily from rising cooling costs during summer. Moreover, there are India specific studies that show as much as 16% savings in power by advancing the Indian standard by 30 minutes instead of adopting DST.
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