Illuminated hoardings dotting the city skies will go dark, with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) launching austerity measures to rein in excess power consumption.

GHMC has issued instructions to those advertising agencies — who have “lit hoardings” and operating within its limits — not to illuminate the billboards until further instructions.

The directions were given by Mayor, Mohammed Majid Hussain, and Municipal Commissioner, M. T. Krishna Babu, with a view to “minimise” consumption of power, against the backdrop of prevailing power crisis in the State, a GHMC release said.

The civic chief said stringent action would be taken against those agencies who violate the directions.

There are around 3,300 hoardings under GHMC limits and and nearly 40 per cent among them are “lit boards” and kiosks, Babu said, adding “good amount of power will be saved if GHMC could control the illumination.”

The GHMC has also asked the maintenance staff of its electrical wing to keep the streetlights on between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. only.

The Commissioner also informed that GHMC is utilising 20 million units of electricity a month towards maintaining streetlights and supplying water to peripheral areas among other purposes.

GHMC is planning to conserve 20 to 25 per cent of electricity usage by implementing various measures, said Babu.

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Published on August 26, 2012