BANGALORE: A unique initiative was kickstarted last week by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). A marathon campaign on energy-saving measures is being held by making use of all available tools of communication. They have not limited themselves to just street plays, drum beaters, flash mobs, cinema slides, dollu kunitha, but also using car stickers, leaflets and displaying huge hoardings all over the city.The coming week will witness BESCOM making extensive use of emerging technologies to spread awareness on saving power through bulk sms, caller tunes and even advertisements on two-thirds of the screen in Railway ticketing counters, thus making use of railway infotainment.BESCOM is keeping no stone unturned in making use of latest resources available . They plan to make use of 100 BTRAC sign boards across the city. Satyaprem Kumar, General Manager (DSM) of BESCOM informed City Express, “Once we get permission, we will move ahead with our plans.” Damodar B, DGM (DSM) of BESCOM said, “We have appealed to our own staff through a circular to be role models in taking saving power initiatives and installing solar units at their respective residences.”A very ambitious Rs 6-crore campaign, BESCOM aims to save atleast 300 MW of energy, which they are very confident of achieving, provided the public cooperates with the them as studies have proved that 10 per cent savings in power can be achieved by each domestic consumer.Meanwhile, the street plays being held under this campaign are garnering huge attention where ever they are being enacted. Satyaprem says, “These street plays are able to attract at least 100-150 strong crowd.”City Express took a peek at one of the plays and witnessed the positive response. The brain behind the conceptualisation of the plays, Ravindranath Sirivara said, “It took three days for me to complete the script so as to complement the energy saving awareness campaign, and another three days to train the artists.” The street play educates people on important aspects that people usually tend to ignore — such as using solar and CLF bulbs, switching off the geyser and many other things.Everyday, this 12-member-group visits four different locations in the city and perform street plays. Suresh, one of the participants, who has been into acting for almost five years now says, “This has been a delightful experience so far. The response has been phenomenal and crowds take interest in the issue that we are trying to highlight. It is satisfying to be a part of this play because at the end of the show, there is a social message for the people and in this way, we too are contributing our bit to the society.”Voicing a similar opinion, Ranganath said, “Although it is exhausting at times, we get immense pleasure after the entire day’s efforts and it gives us a sense of fulfillment to be a part of such an initiative.” When City Express spoke to a few onlookers, the reactions were positive. “I am really impressed with the initiatives taken by BESCOM. The play really held my attention, said Parvathi Devi, a housewife.Another onlooker, Ramesh Yadav said, “I have heard of the energy saving campaign and seen hoardings all over the city but never thought that I will witness a play of such nature. I will definitely try to do my bit to save power from now onwards.”Apart from the street plays, another important format that will be used is the online media as well as flash mobs that are conducted across malls in the city. Satyaprem informs, “We will conduct flash mobs in colleges also to attract the younger lot.”BESCOM has been making a name for itself as the most technologically updated organisation in the city and the present initiative further proves the point strongly. In the coming month, BESCOM also plans to re-design its website which itself will be an interesting step to watch out for. Will it work, watch out for the next month’s bill.
Comments
0 comment