Unable to cope with massive load-sheddings, Bangaldesh joins the group of about 70 countries including Pakistan which set clocks forward to use daylight better and save energy.

Bangladesh’s daylight saving time (DST) started at 11pm (23:00) local time on Friday, June 19, 2009. The clocks moved one hour forward at this time to midnight (00:00) between June 19 and June 20.

“This means Bangladeshis would practically begin their work an hour earlier than usual. Many establishments that run till sundown would actually close before sundown and thus reduce pressure on power demands,” The Daily Star newspaper said on the enforcement of a government decision taken last month.

The government estimates that 250 megawatts of power per day can be saved by having more daylight hours in the evening so that people can avoid using electric lights, junior Power and Energy Minister Shamsul Haq Tuku said. The country produces about 3,800 megawatts of electricity a day, compared to a demand for about 5,000.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, issued a circular in this connection last week and asked the commercial banks to implement the government’s decision properly.

However, there is still confusion regarding the new time rules. The government said it is using television ads and distributing handbills across the country to encourage people to switch to the new time.

At least 70 countries around the world – including the US, Britain, Japan and Pakistan – have been able to save on power consumption by using the DST system.

Read a detailed report at Timeanddate.com

According to the Wikipedia, India briefly used day light saving time during the World War II. India considered having two time zones but sense prevailed as they lawmakers soon realized that the benefits in energy savings are not large enough to justify the increased risks that two time zones would entail.

Although many research reports found daylight saving measures actually help in saving energy, personally, I feel instead of confusing moves like this, it is better to switch to increase energy awareness among people, promote energy saving appliances, etc. This is a debate that has continued for a long time.

Here is a report arguing why India should not have two time zones and daylight saving and here is one on why we should have daylight saving time. According to this report, apart from saving energy, daylight saving will also help in reducing accidents and crime on the road!

Anyways, I still feel daylight saving time will create a hell of a confusion in a large country like India and asking a billion people to change their lives may prove not to be feasible also. For example of how it may affect our lives, check this out.

What is Daylight Saving Time or DST?

Daylight saving time(DST) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist. Many countries have used it since then.