The Bihar government plans to make available 5000 MW of power by the end of this year required by the state.

Arsenic is known to be one of the causative factors of gall bladder cancer in Bihar.

The flood situation in 20 of the 38 Bihar districts remained grim on Wednesday with the toll rising to 176, including five persons - three in Munger and two in Bhagalpur district - drowning in the

Around 5.5 million people have been affected due to floods in 20 districts of Bihar , with the death toll going up to 160, official figures showed.

There was no let up in the fury of floods in over a dozen Bihar districts Sunday with major swollen rivers, including the Ganga, affecting more than five million people, officials said.

The Bihar Government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding for a 1,320-MW coal-based thermal power project at Chausa in Buxar district. The State expects to procure 85 per cent of the total power generated or 1,054 MW from two units of 660 MW each.

The MoU for the joint venture was signed by Bihar State Power Holding Company Ltd (BSPHCL), Bihar Power Infrastructure Company Pvt. Ltd (BPIC) and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVN) – a joint venture company of the Union and Himachal Pradesh governments.

Stage is set for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here on Thursday for setting up a 1320MW (2x660MW) thermal power plant at Chausa in Buxar district.

Work has started on the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded project of Rs 650 crore in seven towns of power-starved Bihar for upgrading electricity transmission lines to cut down losses.

An aerial survey of the Ganga river in Bihar on Saturday brought Union water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar closer to the alarming severity of the siltation and pollution in the river and need for more urgent remedies.

“I saw it (growing siltation) a very serious issue and we must take urgent measures soon to save the Ganga and reduce the constant threat of floods,” said Mr Bansal, whose survey of the river was in response to Mr Kumar’s request on April 17 for a personal familiarisation with the crisis