Shops pledge power conservancy

Shop-owners yesterday promised to avoid lighting up their markets with colourful lights and switch off air-conditions during peak hours in Ramadan.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Shop Owners Association and Dhaka Shop Owners Association gave the assurance in a meeting with Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad at the Bidyut Bhaban in the capital.
"We will not use AC during peak hours and will keep the AC temperature at 26 degree Celsius in other times,” said Amir Hossain Khan, president of BSOA.
He said most shop-owners have already installed energy-saving bulbs, replacing energy- incandescent bulbs.
Khan thanked the government for deciding to limit power cuts to half an hour at a time during in Ramadan to ease public sufferings.
The leaders were unanimous in saying that it would not be possible for them to shut down shops at 8:00pm in Ramadan, as the holy month offers them the best sales throughout the year.
"We have kept the shops shut throughout the year after 8:00pm. Now we want service from the government this month," said SA Quader Keron, secretary general of BSOA.
"Please do not pressurise us into shutting down at 8:00pm in Ramadan. Please do not send police and officials of the power distributing agencies to shut down the shops,” Khan said.
Reazul Islam, senior vice president of Dhaka Shop Owners Association, said the shop-owners invest a lot of money before Ramadan in hopes of good returnd before the Eid festivals.
Mohammad Ali, general secretary of Narayanganj Shop Owners Association, said the government should instruct the CNG-pumps not to light their pumps in Ramadan, which eats away a lot of electricity.
Jasim Uddin, senior vice president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, urged the government to augment the power generation to meet the additional peak hour demand in the country.
The power secretary said asked the shop-owners not run ACs during the peak hours and signboards. They should also switch off unnecessary lighting.
The Eid-ul-Fitr is the biggest spending season in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
There are 26 lakh shops in Bangladesh, according to BSOA.