Soon, NE states, Andaman could get new time zone
MUMBAI: It’s feasible for India to have two time zones, a move that will increase productivity in six north-eastern states barring Assam, according to a scientific study by the country’s official timekeeper.
The Indian Standard Time (IST) applicable across the country is 5.30 hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time (UCT, 0.00), which is based on the imaginary longitude line that runs through Greenwich in the UK.
The scientific paper by scientists from the Delhi-based CSIRNational Physical Laboratory (NPL) examines the feasibility of implementing a second time zone for the north-eastern states that will be 6.30 hours ahead UCT to save daylight hours. This means clocks in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will run one hour ahead of clocks in the rest of India.
The sun rises and sets earlier in the north-eastern states than the rest of India, which causes loss of many daylight hours.
The problem worsens in winter when days get shorter, leading to lost productivity and higher electricity consumption. The study estimated that if two time zones are implemented, the annual electricity saving will be 20 million kWh.
“This is a scientific paper where we have examined whether having two time zones is feasible for India and how it can be implemented,” said Dinesh K Aswal, director, NPL.
“Just like previous research on the subject, we found that having a UTC plus six-and-a halfhour time zone will increase the productivity in Port Blair and the six eastern states, barring Assam,” he added.
Previous studies had raised some concerns, he said. “For example, it was suggested that having two time zones could lead to railway collisions, but we have shown in the paper that if the train clocks are switched at Alipurduar Junction on the West Bengal and Assam border,
THE SUN RISES AND SETS EARLIER IN THE NORTHEASTERN STATES THAN THE REST, WHICH CAUSES LOSS OF MANY DAYLIGHT HOURS
such collisions can be avoided,” said Aswal, who is also one of the study’s authors.
“This is the scientific proof we have provided, now the political decision rests with the government. It is up to the ministry to decide whether or not to implement it.”
According to the head of a non-profit who specialises in issues related to the north east, the move is welcome. “This issue has been going on for almost 15 years now, and successive governments have rejected the proposal for a separate time zone for the northeastern states. I am not quite sure what made the national timekeeper agree to it; whether for physical or political reasons, said Sanjoy Hazarika, director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
“However it is more than a welcome move because northeast, especially the east of the region, shuts down at 5pm or 6pm when people in Mumbai for instance are travelling home. A separate time zone will therefore increase man hours and productivity,” Hazarika added
To implement and generate IST-II, NPL will have to establish a Primary Time Scale (PTS), which is an ensemble of five caesium clocks and one hydrogen maser, in one of the north-eastern states similar to PTS for IST-I, which is located in Delhi.
A caesium clock measures time on the basis of the resonance (or change of energy state of an isotope of caesium) and a hydrogen maser, which measures time on the basis of the resonance of hydrogen across energy states.
The paper on “necessity of ‘two time zones: IST-I (UTC +5:30 h) and IST-II (UTC +6:30 h)’ in India and its implementation” has been published in the journal Current Science by the Indian Academy of Sciences.