Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday repeated the decades old demand of northeastern states for a separate time zone. Leaders from the hilly region argue that a separate time zone would increase daylight savings and efficiency.
One of the arguments that the states have been making is that the early sunrise means that by the time they start their day, almost half the day is already over. This means an early sunset which requires extra use of lights in both homes, offices and public places.
“We get up as early as 4 am. Several daylight hours are wasted as government offices open only at 10 am and close at 4 pm,” cm Khandu said.
The demand for a separate time zone has been long withstanding and prior to the current CM, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi had also raised the same issue several times.
What is a time zone and its significance in India?
Earth is broadly divided into 360 vertical lines known as longitudes and a shift in every longitude gives a time difference of four minutes. Every 15 degree longitudinal shift means a time difference of one hour.
However in the scenario of a single time zone, such as India, with the country spread over areas much wider than the one hour mark, some areas see early sunrise and sunset and the opposite extreme ends see them much later. The longitudinal difference between India’s easternmost point Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh and the westernmost point int Gugariyana, Gujarat is is almost 30 degrees — a time difference of two hours.
What does this demand from the states mean?
The demand is essentially aimed at daylight saving and Khandu has demanded that the northeastern states be allowed to advance their clocks by some time (0.5-1 hour approx) to save more daylight hours. The move will obviously not mean that time will slow down. But, the perception will be changed. For those living in northeastern states, a change in time would mean a delayed sunset. This will allow the citizens to make use of added daylight hours.
How early sunrise and early sunset affects life in the northeast?
Imagine going out for a walk in Gujarat. Chances are that even in the winter months of December or January, the sun will not set before 6:30. However, at the same time, Arunachal Pradesh and nearby areas will get dark by 4:30 pm. Some find this troubling as their social lives take a hit too. It gets dark too early and most of the people prefer to stay inside their homes rather than go out and socialise.
Productive hours at offices, mainly government offices, are usually for only 7 hours. The location of the states in the timezone means that they eat breakfast late in the day, eat dinner earlier than most. Businesses like theatres, restaurants see increased business in the summer months when there is more daylight. People prefer to stay out more rather than calling it a night. Daylight saving will thus give a fillip to the economic activity in the city as well.
Positives and negatives of daylight saving?
Mostly, it will benefit the people of the region. If the demand is approved, the region is expected to be put on the timezone of GMT+6 hrs. India is currently five and a half hours ahead of the greenwich prime meridian. This will be the same time zone as Bangladesh.
Globally, farmers have been the community that has been most affected by the practice of initiating daylight saving and they have had the toughest time adapting to it. They have been the biggest opposers of the move in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Europe etc.
The Problem is that the farmers have less time to get their wares to markets so it is a big inconvenience. More so, cattle and animals have a tough time getting oriented with the new body clock requirements. Sleeping patterns change.
Coordinated tracking of time differences will be required and a huge logistical challenge will be posed to services like airlines, airports, railways, financial traders etc.
Historically tested convenience
When the British ruled India, India’s time zones were divided into Calcutta Time Zone and Bombay Time Zone. A separate chai bagan (tea garden) time zone was raised by Khandu. This time zone is ahead of the Indian Standard Time by an hour and it was present in the British colonial era as well.