Recently, Space Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), an NGO, conducted an evening at the India Gate to raise awareness about increasing levels of light pollution in urban areas. SPACE, under its
project ‘Dark Skies’, has organised an ongoing Great Indian Star Count 2011, on till October 28, in top six cities of India, where citizens are urged to participate in this endeavour and count the number of stars in their respective cities.
C.B. Devgun, president, SPACE, mentioned that due to high level of light pollution in cities, people are unable to see the clear skies with stars as compared to people living in remote areas of our country. He informs, “In 2010, after the study of a report, we found out that people staying in the remote areas close to Delhi can watch 97% more stars with the naked eye than those living in Delhi. Since last year, we expect people have become sensitive towards light pollution, therefore we hope the pollution levels to go down this year.”
Not many of us are aware about ‘light pollution’ and its consequences in our daily life, but during festivals and other occasions it increases manifolds due to excessive wastage of light energy. Shankar Mishra, an environmentalist who works for Matrabhumi NGO and CSE, says, “Light pollution is excessive and unnecessary usage of artificial lights at night, which lead to urban skyglow. Excessive lights make the sky too bright and prevent the view of stars and other astronomical objects to naked eyes.”
He adds, “More than humans, it affects the plants and wild animals and birds by disturbing their natural cycles due to artificial lights glowing all night. It can also lead to wastage of energy in the form of electricity and fuel consumption. The best way to prevent light pollution is by reducing the amount of light bulbs and tubes at night, so that one can see the natural light.”