Why we need a policy on light pollution

world cannot see the Milky Way because of light pollution and there are now groups like the International Dark Sky Association that are campaigning for the protection of night skies for future generations.

A study in 2016 found that more than 80% of the world’s population lives under skies polluted by excessive light. The World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, created by the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, United States, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and other organisations, published in the journal Science Advances, predictively, show the densely populated and developed areas of the world flooded in light. Europe, United States, most of India, eastern China, Japan, southeast Asia shine brightly at night. Only the rainforests of Amazon, the interiors of Africa, the Tibet plateau, Siberia and the Australian outbacks sleep under relatively pristine darkness. In India, the western areas of the Indo-gangetic plains and the large metropolitan centres are the brightest. The Thar Desert and the forested and relatively less populated areas of central India are among the few areas in the subcontinent that still has unlighted skies.

The study warned that the change to LED technology could worsen the problem and increase light pollution to two or three times the current levels unless corrections are made.

Even in the absence of law, in Mumbai Police and municipal authorities have tried to enforce some rules. In the first such case, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), after complaints from a Kalbadevi resident, directed a hospital and gymkhanas along Marine Drive to switch off high-intensity lights and billboards after 11pm.

To reduce light pollution, the Kumaun University study suggested modifying street and outdoor lights, including shading of light sources and switching off lights when not needed. “LEDS can save electricity, but use it only when you need it,” says Kumar. “Some buildings are bathed in light late into the night.”