StatesBihar
11.11 lakh lamps light the Ganga at Munger as Samrat Choudhary announces an 83-km marine drive
Bihar's Chief Minister lit the first lamp at Kalyanpur on the eve of Diwali and said work on a Munger to Bhagalpur drive along the river will begin within two months.
Key points
- 11,11,111 earthen lamps were lit on the Ganga bank at Kalyanpur in Munger on Saturday evening.
- Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced an 83-km marine drive from Munger to Bhagalpur, with work to start within two months.
- Silt dredged from the Ganga will be used in road building under a November 2 understanding with Nitin Gadkari.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary lit the first lamp on Saturday evening as 11,11,111 earthen lamps glowed along the Ganga at Kalyanpur in Munger, a day before Diwali. The lighting took place at the premises of the Maa Badi Durga Maharani temple, and the organisers describe it as Bihar’s largest Deepotsav.
At the same event Choudhary announced an 83-km marine drive between Munger and Bhagalpur. He said work on it would begin within the next two months. The stated aim is to check erosion by the Ganga, which damages farmland and crops of lakhs of farmers, and to give the region a push in development.
The ceremony on the Ganga bank
Munger is the Chief Minister’s home district, and the organiser, Dr Nitish Chandra Dubey, called him both Chief Minister and “son of Munger”. Dubey said next year’s Deepotsav would be even larger.
The tradition began in 2019, when members of the Kalyanpur Youth Club lit 51,000 lamps. The count reached about 9 lakh in 2025, and this year it crossed 11 lakh. The organisers say they want it to become the second-largest event of its kind in India after Ayodhya, where the 10th Deepotsav was held on the same evening.
The programme included a Ganga Maha Aarti with 101 boats on the river, and hundreds of rockets that formed a sky display of Goddess Durga. Organisers arranged about 50,000 litres of sesame oil for the lamps and 500 kg of pure ghee for special lamps at the temple.
Choudhary prayed to Goddess Lakshmi for the prosperity and happiness of every household in Bihar. He said Diwali marks the victory of truth over falsehood and thanked the people of Munger and the Bhagalpur division for their support in the elections.
What the marine drive and silt plan involve
Choudhary said that on November 2 he reached an understanding with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to use silt removed from the Ganga in road construction in Bihar.
He also said a campaign has been run on the issue of the Farakka Barrage and silt build-up in the river, and that officials had been told to make sure Ganga water reaches all dams in the state.
Jobs and industry
On employment, Choudhary said industries are being set up under the public-private partnership model so that young people can find work in Bihar instead of migrating to other states. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar for their blessings.
No cost or funding source for the marine drive has been announced.