Dhaka, June 19 (bdnews24.com)—Bangladesh gets ready to move clocks an hour ahead from 11pm on Friday as the energy-starved nation introduces Daylight Saving Time for 'an extra hour of daylight' to save power.
The sun will in effect set 'an hour later' on Saturday.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will release a special commemorative stamp from her Jamuna residence at 11pm, as clocks across the country are reset an hour ahead to 12 midnight.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Hasina on June 1 decided the move. Hasina had promised before the Dec 29 general elections to address the power crisis.
DST are practised in many countries, exploiting daylight by advancing clocks so that evenings have more natural light and mornings have less. The sun will in effect set 'an hour later' on Saturday.
The energy department has launched a massive awareness-raising campaign and other initiatives to make the transition as smooth as possible for people.
Energy affairs adviser to the prime minister, Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, told bdnews24.com on Thursday, "All the countries of the world want more use of sunlight."
"This will carry a message of our being economical too, in our attitude to conserve daylight and therefore save power."
"This is going to be our first experience of this kind. Let us see what happens, how good a result it brings. It's a necessary change."
State minister for energy Shamsul Huque Tuku said at least 200 megawatts of electricity would be saved daily across the country because of the extra daylight hour.
The programme is primarily for four months, but may be for longer duration if the result is fruitful, he said.
"Bangladeshi people are very aware. We have not received any criticism, or adverse reaction in this regard."
"We hope they will follow the instructions smoothly for moving clocks an hour ahead at 11pm tomorrow (Friday) night."
The decades-old power plants are mostly fuelled by gas, but the reserves are depleting, officials said. The country faces a shortage of up to 250 million cubic feet of gas a day.
The government has temporarily closed down several fertiliser manufacturing plants to divert the natural gas they use to generate more electricity.
Frequent power failures cut the country's gross domestic product by around $1 billion annually, the World Bank has said, and the country would need $1.5 billion annual investment for power generation and transmission, and natural gas exploration.
State-run and private TV channels are broadcasting information slots. Mobile-phone operators are sending out text alerts.
"The message is being sent to every corner of the country," said Tuku, adding that people would quickly adjust to the time change.
He said school timings should not be affected. "No institution should change its timing."
"We have also had talks with business communities. They say all shops and businesses will remain open according to the new timings."
Regarding other power saving measures of the government, Tuku said the national budget had allocated money for developing renewable energy sources.
He also said all government offices were moving over to energy saving bulbs.
Bangladesh Television will broadcast live pictures of the capital's landmark RAJUK building clock being advanced by an hour at 11pm Friday, said Tuku.
The famous RAJUK clock, however, is popularly known for not running much of the time and mostly 'being stuck at 12'.
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