The parliament building lighting is usually for a period of five to seven days.
The parliament building is all decked up to mark the 70th year of Independence. The strings of lights is an old tradition. But as times change, so has the way the tradition is kept alive.
Since 1950s, every year on two occasions, like all government buildings, parliament is lit up using a whopping 22,000 bulbs. Each bulb is 25 watts.
The lighting is usually for a period of five to seven days. It takes 48 hours or two days of testing to ensure that it remains glitch free. Over all, each year the lighting is on for four hours - from dusk onwards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last year - in line with the "save electricity campaign" indicated to the Lok Sabha Secretariat to explore ways to ensure that the power bill from the lighting comes down.
So this year at the directions of the Lok Sabha Speaker, instead of the usual yellow bulbs that consume more power by heating up, the parliament building shines in the light of LED lamps.
Nearly 24,000 LED lamps are being used and are brighter than those used in the past. They are more durable as each year nearly 15 per cent bulbs used to perish. And each lamp of 3 watts consumes eight times less power than regular bulbs.
After the directions of the lok sabha speaker the parliament building shines in the light of led lamps.
The saving expected from lighting for four hours from August 12 to 18 is enormous. A senior Lok Sabha secretariat officials said, "Each year the 32 hour lighting used to consume 500 kilo watts of power. This time it will be one eighth."
The expected drop in the electricity bill for just seven days of lighting up the temple of Indian democracy will be Rs 1.10 lakh.
A senior official said, "the LED lamps are a major saver. They consume less power plus they have a long shelf life. So they can be used for more years than the normal bulbs."
This change is part of a larger exercise undertaken by the speaker Sumitra Mahajan to make parliament a more environment friendly place. After a long time an energy audit has been ordered to find avenues for saving power.
The new parliament annexe building is green in architecture. It has water recycling, rain water harvesting, and solar power units.