LAHORE, June 1: The energy conservation drive by the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) turned out to be a `partial success’ on its first day (Sunday), with 60 per cent markets across the province voluntarily closing by 9pm.

Pepco officials called it an encouraging sign as all these markets pulled their shutters down on their own because neither the Labour Department nor the district administration was on duty on Sunday. (Except for Lahore and Rawalpindi, markets do open in Punjab on Sundays as they follow the Friday closure)

The market closure though saved 200 megawatt (MW) only, Pepco hoped that the saving would touch 500MW in the weekdays.

By advancing clock by an hour, Pepco record showed a drop of 200MW during the day as compared to last Sunday. The Pepco officials said that though closure of air conditioning in government offices from 8am to 11am would save only 20MW, it has psychological impact of ‘charity begins at home’.

All city neon signs also wore a dark look as Pepco has already disconnected them. The only few exceptions were those neon signs run by generators.

Pepco officials said that though the other conservation measures were only for 90 days, power cut for neon signs would continue even after Aug 31.

“We suggest advertisers to get solar panels for their neon signs,” says Tahir Basharat Cheema, Pepco energy conservation director general.

In Lahore, all main markets, which were partially opened because of Sunday, in Gulberg and Defence also chose to close their shops. Small shops in streets, however, remained an odd exception. The total impact of the drive in the city could not be measured on Sunday as it was already a public holiday. Monday (today) may bring the real picture. District administration and labour department officials will also be there to ensure the closure of markets by nine. The alternate streetlights system has already been in place since the last conservation drive started by the previous government. So it was hard to measure the success of the current drive on this front.

Pepco officials claimed that though the alternate streetlight system was already in place, the company was trying to make it even stringent. On Sunday, it ensured switch-off of lights even around VIP houses and went after private housing societies. With the exception of three roads of the GHQ in Rawalpindi, the entire country now has alternate streetlights. The Karachi Electric Supply Company has not switched off neon signs and the company wrote a letter to it on Sunday asking for ensuring disconnection of neon signs and alternate streetlights.