Nitish calls upon people to take up pisciculture, solar power generation

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday called upon the people to tap the huge potential that lay in fisheries and solar power generation and assured full assistance from his government. Addressing a public meeting in Siwan on the penultimate day of the first phase of his state-wide Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra, Kumar also coined a catchy slogan 'neeche machhli, upar bijli' to share his vision of economic activity wherein people conserved ponds for pisciculture and covered the water bodies with solar panels to generate electricity in an eco-friendly way.

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Tremendous potential for pisciculture and solar power

A solar panel over a pond spread across 7.5 acres can generate one megawatt of electricity. In a district like Siwan and adjoining ones like Chhapra and Gopalganj, there is tremendous potential for pisciculture and solar power generation since the riverine areas along the Ganges are ideal for ponds, Kumar said. Surplus power would be purchased by the state government and transmitted elsewhere through a grid system. So, please, go ahead and take up this model of growth on a full scale, the Chief Minister said.

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Say no to stubble burning

Kumar also warned the rural folk against adopting stubble burning a pernicious practice that began in Punjab and Haryana and which state farmers are also taking up unmindful of the consequences. "Please do not cause damage to the soil by such practice. For your benefit, the government has embarked on the heavily subsidized supply of tools for removing parali (stubble), " he said.

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Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali campaign

He also reiterated the decision to organize a state-wide human chain on January 19 to spread the message of his Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali campaign that seeks to underscore the importance of water and greenery for sustaining life. The campaign followed an all-party meeting of members of both houses of the state legislature on the issue of climate change. "Our commitment to the cause has received adulation from no less a person than Bill Gates who recently met me at Patna and in an interview later raved about the level of awareness he saw in our state, something he did not expect to see outside developed countries like England and America," Kumar said.

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