The tyrannical time
THE retention of Daylight Saving Time (DST) beyond October 1, during the shrinking daylight hours, is causing suffering for people from all walks of life. At the same time, the core purpose of reducing power consumption by efficient use of daylight is also falling flat.
The government forwarded Bangladesh Standard Time by one hour from midnight on June 19 this year under DST plan in order to tackle the power crisis. It was said that around 200 mw of electricity could be saved by advancing the clock by one hour.
The caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed first planned to introduce the DST system in April 2007 but backtracked for the complexities surrounding it. The caretaker government also decided in principle to divide the country into cluster-wise zones for load management, but could not implement it.
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. DST gives the opportunity to enjoy sunny summer evenings by moving clocks an hour forward in the spring.
The reason DST works is because it saves energy due to need for less artificial light during the evening hours -- clocks are set one hour ahead during the spring, and one hour back to standard time in the autumn. The countries that observe DST routinely change their clocks with the change of seasons.
Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, evening entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun. Traffic fatalities are also reduced when there is extra afternoon daylight.
The starting and ending dates of DST in many countries change from time to time due to special events or conditions. The United States, Canada and some other countries extended DST in 2007. The new start date is the second Sunday in March (previously it was the first Sunday in April) during spring, and during autumn the start date is the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday in October). The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates of DST in US.
Many European countries including UK, which observe DST, switch over to it in summer routinely and go back to the standard time as winter sets in. India introduced the DST during the times of war but dropped it later. Pakistan and Iran introduced the DST in 2008 and routinely follow it, setting clocks one hour ahead to standard time during the summer, and one hour back in the winter.
When the government introduced the DST in Bangladesh on June 19, understanding was given that it would be changed with the change of season as per international practice. Now it has been learnt that the cabinet did not approve the part of the proposal that sought to revert to the old time on October 1 and introduce DST from next April to September 30, 2010.
It was also said that around 200 mw of electricity could be saved using afternoon daylight by advancing the clock by one hour. But the level of load shedding does not reflect the effectiveness of DST in reducing power consumption.
The statement of the energy adviser given in an interview with BBC Bangla service on not reverting to standard time has triggered a debate on the effectiveness of DST in reducing power consumption during winter.
To retain DST during the winter and also to ease traffic congestion, the government recently changed the school and office time, which has created more difficulties both for the students and their parents. Parents are complaining that new school time is making their children sick, as they are forced to wake up in the small hours of the day to get ready for school.
The continuation of DST during the winter will also adversely affect the farmers and others, whose hours are not set by the clock but by the sun. The harvesting of paddy generally starts after evaporation of dew. So the farmers will be losers if the hired labourers arrive and leave early following the DST.
The retention of DST during the shrinking days of winter is surely a decision that might have adverse impacts on the life and living of the people. The school-going children are the worst victims of the illogical extension of DST as they are forced to commute very early in the morning.
The people seem to be annoyed at the government's refusal to change the DST in winter as they consider it a tyrannical time. The government is, in fact, risking its popularity by imposing a decision on the public, defying logic and international practice.
An elected government committed to facilitating people's lives cannot stick to a decision that is not helping it in anyway. Therefore, it is now imperative for the government to set the clock right in order to mitigate the suffering of the people.
A. N. M. Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.
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