Bihar town paints itself green

A house painted in green recently in Bhabua town, Bihar. The town got thestatus of ‘green Bhabua’ after it painted itself green on the lines of ‘pink city’ of Jaipur.

If it is pink for Rajasthan, it is green for Bihar where a town has painted itself green to match its verdant surroundings.

The initiative to paint buildings in Bhabua town with green colour was taken last Diwali and completed this week, Kaimur District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Singh, the man behind the idea, said.

As part of the exercise, the citizens themselves have painted their houses in green.

All buildings maintained by the district administration have been coloured green while a request has been made to other departments like police stations to do the same.

Once dotted with filth Once dotted with dirt and filth, a large number of gardens have also been built in the town, he said.

To celebrate the feat, a function was organised here and children wearing green caps burst firecrackers and released green balloons on Friday last, Mr. Singh said.

The District Magistrate said he had been inspired by the pink city of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, and convinced the locals to do something on that line.

The choice of green was the decision of the local people who thought since the town was surrounded by thick jungles, that colour would be apt.

“Besides, green has a soothing effect and also gives the message of peace and brotherhood,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the new found name would also promote tourism in the town located near Varanasi in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

People already visit the town in large numbers to offer prayers at Maha Mundeshwari Temple and “green Bhabua” would inspire more to come here, he said.

Kaimur district has a rich historical background. It formed part of the mighty Magadh Empire and later came under the control of King Harshavardhana.

An inscription in the Mundeshwari Temple near Bhabua refers to King Udaysena as the ruling chief of the area.

Of yore Famous Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, who journeyed through the country in the 7th century AD, passed through Arrah, the headquarters of the old Shahabad district through this region of the newly-formed Kaimur district.