Bihar government has claimed that over 5 crore people took part in the human chain under 'Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali' programme on Sunday.
"Today, under 'Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali', (Chief Minister's flagship program) 18,034 km long human chain was formed... Altogether 5,16,71,389 crore people took part in the human chain exceeding the target what we had thought of," said Deepak Kumar, Chief Secretary, Bihar while addressing a press conference.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Sushil Modi along with other ministers gathered at the Gandhi Maidan to participate in the human chain event.The human chain is being formed under the 'Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali' programme, which is a flagship programme launched by Nitish Kumar to fight climate change, among other objectives.
The event had earlier come under attack from the Opposition in the State, with RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav stating, "So many trees were cut by Nitish Kumar for making highways and for the other so-called development works. Water is being wasted every day from the faulty taps in the government offices while the CM keeps talking about Jal, Jeevan and Hariyali. He is going to make the school children stand in this cold weather for the human chain, who will take responsibility if they fall sick?" Yadav told reporters on Saturday.
The Bihar government had earlier claimed that the human chain on January 19 will be the longest one ever attempted.The Bihar government had organised such events in support of prohibition of liquor in 2017 and then against dowry and child marriage in 2018.