As the clock strikes 12 midnight on Tuesday, the Pakistanis would move clocks forward by an hour, in a bid to make the maximum use of daylight and conserve energy. The addition of an hour to the current time - (GMT+6) - would help conserve 250-300 megawatts of electricity on average daily, a private TV channel reported.
Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) had asked the government in March to advance clocks by one hour from April 15 to cope with the power deficit. Government is hopeful that the target to bridge the gap between demand and supply will be achieved and there will be no load shedding by December 2009. Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf urged the people to cooperate and avoid unnecessary use of electricity in the offices, commercial centres and houses.
The minister also asked the traders to close their shops early and switch off their 50 per cent lights voluntarily. Last year the clock was put forward by an hour for summer, but the step has assumed greater importance now because of acute electricity shortage in the country.