Patna: More than a thousand students from across Bihar — and even beyond — gathered at Gyan Bhawan in Patna on Friday to participate in a state-level competition aimed at raising awareness around environmental protection and pollution control.
Organised by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, the day-long event featured spot painting, essay writing and quiz competitions, and drew participation from 1,187 students representing 19 districts in Bihar as well as metropolitan cities such as Kolkata and Mumbai.
The painting competition, which included 691 girls and 496 boys, was divided into five groups based on school grade levels from Class 1 to 10. A total of 233 schools participated across the five groups, with the highest turnout from Group 5 (Classes 9–10), involving 53 schools.
In the essay writing segment, 281 students from 12 districts — including Patna, Gaya, Purnia, Sitamarhi and Munger — submitted entries. Among them were 166 girls and 115 boys, representing 80 schools across junior and senior categories.
The quiz competition, open to students from Classes 9 to 12, saw 202 participants face off in a high-energy contest hosted by Bengaluru-based quizmaster Venkatesh Srinivasan. After a rigorous round of 30 mixed-format questions, eight teams advanced to the final.
Topping the leaderboard were Amber Sinha and Ishan Bhushan of Saint Karens High School, Patna, scoring 61 points. Close behind were Don Bosco Academy’s Arnav Prakash and Manas Vaibhav with 53 points, followed by Shreyans Sharma and Ayush Kumar of Saint Karens Secondary School (49), and Shrimoyee Banerjee and Chaitali Rai of Notre Dame Academy (48).
The winners of the essay and painting competitions will receive first, second, and third prizes in their respective categories at an award ceremony scheduled for June 5 — World Environment Day — at Gyan Bhawan. Full results will be available on the official website of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board at https://bspcb.bihar.gov.in.
