Over 5 Crore People Form Human Chain Over 18,000 Km Long In Bihar & Pledge To Save Environment
The chain was formed in response to the call of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to support his government's efforts towards environment conservation and eradication of social evils. It was a part of the 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' campaign, which seeks to protect the flora and fauna with a special emphasis on forests and natural resources.
More than five crore people came out of their homes in Bihar on Sunday and formed an unbroken "maanav shrinkhla" (human chain), which the state government claimed to be over 18,000 kilometres long. Notwithstanding the harsh winter weather, people from all walks of life joined the human chain.
The chain was formed in response to the call of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to support his government's efforts towards environment conservation and eradication of social evils. It was a part of the 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' campaign, which seeks to protect the flora and fauna with a special emphasis on forests and natural resources.
The human chain bettered previous records of 2017, when people had stood in support of Kumar's move to impose a complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol, and of 2018 when the exercise was repeated to back campaigns against dowry and child marriage, a top state government official said.
"Altogether 5.17 crore people took part in the human chain which was 18,034 kilometres long. The length this year was much longer than 14,000 kilometres of 2018 and 11,000 kilometres of the year before when Bihar first entered record books beating Bangladesh," Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
He said, "A total of seven helicopters had been pressed into service for capturing aerial images of the event that was bound to go down in the annals of history as a record. Besides, more than 100 drone cameras have clicked photographs which showed the enthusiasm of the state's people, for which we are thankful".
The human chain began at around 11.30 AM and people stood for about 30 minutes, holding hands, with the chief minister himself leading from the front at the historic Gandhi Maidan in the state capital.
The mammoth event threw up many stellar examples of public participation. In Bochaha block of Muzaffarpur district, villagers stood atop a make-shift bridge of boats on the 200 meters wide bed of river Gandak.
A glimpse of Manav Shrinkhla inside the Main Secretariat campus, Patna. https://t.co/04veD5ks3K pic.twitter.com/B7Ibt4yTG3
¡ª Uday Bhan Singh (@usudaybhan) January 19, 2020
Manav shrinkhla special ? pic.twitter.com/nfnXBySAto
¡ª Aniket Kumar (@AniketK31285111) January 19, 2020
#ManavShrinkhala2020
¡ª SATYAM SAURABH (@MSDhoni_Club) January 19, 2020
I have also participated in Manav Shrinkhla. Well done Nitish Kumar. Well done Bihar. Once again you created a world record. Very nice campaign by Bihar government. Such programs should be promoted. pic.twitter.com/eeyZZtyEnC
Manav shrinkhla 2020 on jal jeevan hariyali.thanks for support jeevika didi and all participants in manav shrinkhla. pic.twitter.com/mvQDMDvY3G
¡ª Shashi ranjan (@Shashir72539978) January 19, 2020
In Begusarai's Balia sub-division, bereaved family members and neighbours of Om Prakash Agarwal deceased elder brother of a well-known doctor in the area stood holding hands in front of the funeral pyre after it was lit.
The celebratory mood was, however, also marked by the death of a man in Darbhanga district and a woman in Samastipur. "Both died of heart attack," the chief secretary said.
With PTI Inputs
